Research on the Theoretical Mechanism and Path of AI and Digital Economy Empowering High Quality and Balanced Development of Urban and Rural Education

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of AI and digital economy development on the high-quality and balanced development of urban and rural education in China's provinces from 2015 to 2020.By the MIMIC model, this research incorporates AI initiatives and digital economy indices as key variables and applies two-way fixed effects models to analyze their influence.Robustness checks with alternative variables and endogeneity tests further validate the findings.The results reveal an inverted Ushaped relationship between AI development and educational outcomes, indicating initial benefits that diminish beyond a certain point.Conversely, the digital economy consistently enhances educational quality and accessibility, particularly in rural areas.These findings align with existing literature and underscore the importance of optimal technology integration in education.The study concludes that, while AI and digital economy initiatives significantly improve educational outcomes, it also shows the coefficients for AI (0.495), AI (-0.434),DEB (-0.550), and DEB (0.589) along with their error margins.Policy makers should consider these insights to effectively plan and monitor the integration of technological advancements in education.