Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education

Abstract

The technological progress of the first decades of the 21st century has an unprecedented pace, changing various aspects of our lives. The Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions fueled transformations that impact political systems, economic processes, social structures, and the environment that shields the existence of the human race. The latest innovations are influencing new developments in healthcare and education as well. The technological landscape is shaped today by the emergence of a new capability of computational systems, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the tools it enables. The main goal of this paper is to formulate some preliminary conclusions regarding the impact of AI on higher education across various regions of the globe. The main focus of our endeavor is to present some ethical consequences of the interaction between the education system and new technologies. Both risks and opportunities are highlighted, with elements such as accessibility, assistive technology, transparency, academic integrity, or intellectual property examined through a qualitative methodological approach. KEYWORDS: higher education, Artificial Intelligence (AI), academic integrity, ethics, equity, large language models (LLMs)