Artificial Intelligence and the Reconfiguration of Academic Life: A Comparative Social Science Perspective
A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 140
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue brings together cutting-edge social science research examining how generative artificial intelligence is actively reshaping academic life across different fields of study, institutional contexts and cultural settings. Rather than treating AI as a neutral tool, the contributions analyze it as a sociotechnical force that interacts with existing norms, incentives and power relations within higher education systems. The issue foregrounds comparative perspectives on the adoption and use of generative AI in college student learning, faculty teaching and assessments, with particular attention to variations across national systems, disciplines and organizational forms.
Collectively, the articles investigate the consequences of AI for academic labor, including changes in workload, professional autonomy, evaluation practices and the boundaries of expertise. They also explore how students’ subjectivities are being reconfigured, shaping understandings of learning, authorship, responsibility and academic integrity. At the institutional level, the contributions examine how generative AI challenges established norms, policies and legitimacy claims, while opening new pathways for skill formation and credentialing. Methodologically, the Special Issue integrates survey-based evidence, qualitative interviews and ethnography and policy analysis to provide a multidimensional account of AI’s impacts. In doing so, the collection advances a theoretical and empirical understanding of how generative AI mediates power, inequality and legitimacy in contemporary higher education systems.
Prof. Dr. Yingyi Ma
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- generative artificial intelligence
- academic labor
- higher education governance
- skill formation and credentials
- power and inequality
- sociotechnical change
- education policy and regulation
- teacher assessment
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