Academic Identities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

This paper examines how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) may disrupt the current higher education model and reshape academic identities in the UK by lowering the transaction costs associated with knowledge acquisition. The analysis highlights that the UK higher education sector, already in crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic, faces challenges such as declining student engagement, reduced university enrolments, the impact of immigration regulations on international students, rising operational costs, and stagnant tuition fees. The paper argues that GenAI has the potential to accelerate these disruptions, compelling a transformation of academic identities to align with the principles of AI-enhanced pedagogy.