Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Empirical Review of Curriculum Relevance and Labour Demands in Nigeria

The accelerating integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into economic production, workplace systems, and knowledge processes has intensified global concern over whether higher education institutions are adequately preparing graduates for emerging labour realities. Therefore this paper examined higher education in the age of Artificial Intelligence through an empirical review of curriculum relevance and labour demands, with the specific objectives e of assessing the extent to which higher education curricula reflect artificial intelligence-driven competencies required in the contemporary labour market, analysing the relationship between curriculum relevance and evolving labour demands created by artificial intelligence, and identifying curriculum design gaps that hinder graduates’ preparedness for employment in AI-influenced workplaces. The paper was anchored on Human Capital Theory and Skill-Biased Technological Change Theory, which provided explanatory foundations for understanding the relationship between educational investment, technological change, and labour market outcomes. Adopting the empirical review method, the paper systematically analysed recent empirical studies published between 2020 and 2026 across global, regional, and Nigerian contexts. The findings revealed significant disparities in curriculum responsiveness, with technologically advanced higher education systems demonstrating stronger integration of artificial intelligence-related competencies, while many Nigerian institutions remain constrained by outdated curriculum structures, weak interdisciplinary integration, inadequate lecturer preparedness, and limited industry collaboration. The paper further established a strong relationship between curriculum relevance and graduate employability in AI-driven labour markets. The paper concluded that curriculum responsiveness has become a decisive indicator of institutional relevance in the digital era and recommended urgent curriculum reform, sustained faculty retraining, and stronger university-industry collaboration to align higher education outcomes with labour market expectations in the age of artificial intelligence.