Rethinking the relationship between artificial intelligence and education: A sociological assessment

Education stands as one of the primary institutions most profoundly impacted by the advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies, a trajectory that is poised to persist. The manifestations of AI’s influence are discernable across the core constituents of education: the student, the educator, and the pedagogical space. While AI technologies directly impinge upon these components, they simultaneously exert an indirect influence on the relational dynamics and interactions between them. This study seeks to examine the nexus between education and artificial intelligence through a sociological and critical lens. It is well-established that the integration of artificial intelligence into educational systems elicits a spectrum of both affirmative and divergent perspectives. The objective of this research is to re-evaluate the utilization of AI in education through the sociological frameworks of surplus value, digital labor, surveillance, and algorithmic control. In doing so, it attempts to elucidate how education and its fundamental elements are re-conceptualized within the digital age under the influence of AI. Designed as a review article, this study utilizes a literature review methodology, which is situated within qualitative research paradigms. The findings suggest that while artificial intelligence ought to function as an object within the educational system, it harbors the inherent risk of transforming into a subject under various pretexts.