Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Sociotechnological Transformation and Ethical-Regulatory Challenges
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This documentary-based reflective essay explores the historical development, technical foundations, and socio-educational implications of artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on higher education. It reviews AI’s evolution from its theoretical origins and foundational milestones to its current consolidation through machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning. The discussion examines the integration of AI into educational contexts, critically addressing the tension between the promise of personalized learning and data-driven decision-making and the risks of technocratic reductionism, metric-centered evaluation, and threats to academic integrity. The essay further analyzes the social impact of generative AI, emphasizing its dual character as both a tool for cognitive enhancement and a source of epistemological uncertainty and algorithmic bias. Ethical and regulatory frameworks are incorporated, highlighting human-centered principles and meaningful human oversight (UNESCO), while comparing risk-based regulatory approaches such as the European AI Act with recent Colombian policy developments (CONPES 4144 and Bill 043/2025–324/2025). The paper concludes that responsible integration of AI in higher education requires institutional governance, critical digital literacy, authentic assessment strategies, and transparent accountability mechanisms to ensure that technological innovation reinforces—rather than displaces—the pedagogical and humanistic foundations of university education.
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