The Strategic Foresight of Artificial Intelligence Empowering the Transformation of Higher Education

Education is a major national and Party undertaking. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to educational work and delivered a series of important speeches on it. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “China’s higher education must be based on the strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the changes unseen in a century in the world, bear in mind ‘the country’s most important affairs’, grasp the general trend, dare to take responsibility, and be good at making achievements, so as to contribute to serving the country’s prosperity, national rejuvenation, and the people’s happiness,” and that we must “develop modern education with Chinese characteristics and world-class standards.” [1]1 “The country’s most important affairs” (国之大者) is a term used by Xi Jinping to refer to the fundamental and overarching interests of the nation and the Party. Currently, human society is undergoing the fourth industrial revolution, with artificial intelligence as its core driving force. AI empowering high-quality development is not only reshaping the global economic structure and industrial forms but also profoundly changing the underlying logic of human knowledge production and dissemination. In the field of higher education, the accelerated development and deep application of AI are profoundly restructuring the new landscape of China’s higher education, promoting systematic transformation and fundamental breakthroughs in educational concepts and models, and becoming an important driving force for empowering the innovative development of higher education. AI-empowered higher education has become an advantage in future competition in higher education and is a key variable in accelerating China’s progress from a large country in education to a powerful country in education.

教育是国之大计、党之大计。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记高度重视教育工作，围绕教育工作发表了一系列重要讲话。习近平总书记指出，“我国高等教育要立足中华民族伟大复兴战略全局和世界百年未有之大变局，心怀‘国之大者’，把握大势，敢于担当，善于作为，为服务国家富强、民族复兴、人民幸福贡献力量”，“发展具有中国特色、世界水平的现代教育”。当前，人类社会正经历以人工智能为核心驱动力的第四次工业革命，人工智能赋能高质量发展不仅重塑着全球经济结构和产业形态，而且深刻改变着人类知识生产与传播的底层逻辑。在高等教育领域，人工智能的加速发展与深度应用正深刻重构我国高等教育新格局，推动教育理念、教育模式的系统性变革和根本性突破，成为赋能高等教育创新发展的重要动力。人工智能赋能高等教育已成为未来高等教育竞争的优势，是我国加快从教育大国向教育强国迈进的重要变量。

Leading the Digital Transformation of Higher Education

引领高等教育数字化转型

As an important marker of the accelerated development of productive forces in the digital age, AI is driving a comprehensive transformation of social production methods, reconstructing the knowledge map and capability framework of human society, bringing unprecedented opportunities and challenges to the development of higher education, and prompting higher education to accelerate its digital transformation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “China attaches great importance to the profound impact of AI on education and actively promotes the deep integration of AI and education to promote educational reform and innovation.” AI empowering higher education is a core agenda for advancing educational modernization, marking that China’s higher education should achieve a leapfrog development from informatization to intelligentization.

人工智能作为数字时代生产力加速发展的重要标志，正在推动社会生产方式的全面变革，重构人类社会的知识图谱与能力框架，为高等教育发展带来前所未有的机遇与挑战，促使高等教育加快数字化转型。习近平总书记指出，“中国高度重视人工智能对教育的深刻影响，积极推动人工智能和教育深度融合，促进教育变革创新”。人工智能赋能高等教育是推进教育现代化的核心议程，标志着我国高等教育应实现信息化向智能化的跨越发展。

The essence of the digital transformation of higher education lies in reshaping higher education through the deep integration of digital technology and educational elements. This is not only related to the high-quality development of higher education but also affects the enhancement of the country’s core competitiveness and the realization of social progress, carrying important practical significance. The digital transformation of higher education is both the intelligent transformation and upgrading of teaching processes and the reconstruction and innovation of educational concepts and models. Against the backdrop of building world-class universities with Chinese characteristics, higher education must systematically promote the deep integration of “AI + education,” construct a new paradigm of intelligent education, create a high-quality talent cultivation system that meets the needs of the AI era, and provide strong talent support and intellectual guarantees for Chinese-path modernization.

高等教育数字化转型的本质在于通过数字技术与教育要素的深度融合重塑高等教育，这不仅关系高等教育的高质量发展，还影响国家核心竞争力的提升和社会进步的实现，具有重要的现实意义。高等教育数字化转型即教学流程的智能化改造和升级，也是教育理念、模式的重构和创新。在建设中国特色、世界一流大学背景下，高等教育要通过系统推进“AI+教育”的深度融合，构建智能教育新范式，打造契合人工智能时代需求的高质量人才培养体系，为中国式现代化提供强有力的人才支撑和智力保障。

Restructuring the Higher Education Ecosystem

重构高等教育生态系统

As one of the most influential technologies in the field of higher education, AI brings comprehensive, systematic, and profound changes to higher education, promoting the digital-intelligent development of the educational ecosystem.

人工智能作为高等教育领域最具影响力的技术之一，带来高等教育全方位、系统性、深层次的变革，促进教育生态系统的数智化发展。

AI triggers innovation in teaching models. “AI + teaching” not only enriches teaching methods and scenarios but also promotes the intelligent transformation of teaching models. For example, various high-quality educational resource platforms, represented by the National Higher Education Smart Education Platform and the National Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching Course Sharing Platform, can achieve a comprehensive digital mapping of the teaching process through multimodal data collection and analysis. This digital mapping is not a simple technological overlay but constructs a new teaching paradigm of “data-driven—precise diagnosis—dynamic optimization,” promoting the intelligent innovation of higher education.

人工智能引发教学模式革新。“人工智能+教学”不仅丰富了教学手段和教学场景，还推动了教学模式的智能化变革。比如，以国家高等教育智慧教育平台、国家虚拟仿真实验教学课程共享平台等为代表的多种优质教育资源平台，通过多模态数据采集与分析，可实现教学过程的全面数字化映射。这种数字化映射不是简单的技术叠加，而是构建了“数据驱动—精准诊断—动态优化”的教学新范式，促进了高等教育的智能化革新。

AI drives the construction of personalized learning models. Relying on big data, algorithms, and adaptive systems, AI creates personalized learning models for students. It can not only enhance students’ learning motivation, stimulate their potential and interests but also collect and analyze students’ behavioral data and learning performance in real time, adjust learning content and pace, precisely allocate learning resources, and construct students’ subject knowledge graphs. Its essence is to promote educational equity. With AI empowering higher education, students’ personalized learning moves from the “limited practice” of traditional classrooms to a more systematic future education model, providing strong support and guarantees for personalized learning.

人工智能驱动个性化学习模式构建。人工智能依靠大数据、算法和自适应系统为学生打造个性化学习模式，不仅能增强学生的学习动力，激发学生的潜能和兴趣爱好，还能实时收集和分析学生的行为数据、学习表现，调整学习内容和节奏，精准配置学习资源，构建学生学科知识图谱，其本质是促进教育公平。人工智能赋能高等教育，学生个性化学习从传统课堂的“有限实践”迈向更系统化的未来教育模式，为个性化学习提供了有力支撑和保障。

AI pushes the educational evaluation system toward multi-dimensionality. AI promotes the development of educational evaluation theory and accelerates the innovation of educational evaluation practice models: transitioning from process-oriented evaluation to real-time, panoramic mining analysis; from traditional examination systems that emphasize outcome-oriented evaluation to multi-indicator, multi-subject, multi-scenario multi-dimensional educational evaluation standards; from traditional diagnostic evaluation of development processes to full-cycle precise predictive evaluation, etc. Educational evaluation has achieved a leap from “experience-based decision-making” to “data-driven” approaches, becoming more scientific and targeted.

人工智能促使教育评价体系走向多维立体化。人工智能推动了教育评价理论的发展，加快了教育评价实践模式的创新：从过程性评价向实时化、全景化的挖掘性分析转型；从传统考试制度侧重结果性评价向多指标、多主体、多场景的多维教育评价标准转型；从传统发展过程诊断性评价向全周期精准预测性评价转型等。教育评价实现了“经验决策”向“数据驱动”的跃迁，更具有科学性和针对性。

AI opens a new chapter in university management, service, and education. By introducing advanced intelligent technologies, universities break the limitations of traditional management, service, and education models, achieving a shift from extensive management to refined management, optimizing work processes, improving work efficiency, and reducing management costs. For example, from enrollment and admissions to teaching management and campus safety construction, all aspects can achieve rapid information transmission and sharing through digital platforms, making interdepartmental collaboration smoother and more efficient, truly enhancing the effectiveness of university management, service, and education.

人工智能开启高校管理服务育人新篇章。高校通过引入先进的智能技术，打破了传统高校管理服务育人模式的局限，实现了从粗放式管理向精细化管理的转变，能够优化工作流程、提高工作效率、降低管理成本。比如，高校从招生录取、教学管理到校园平安建设等各环节，都可以通过数字化平台实现信息的快速传递与共享，促使各部门之间协同合作更加顺畅高效，真正让高校管理服务育人效能得到提升。

Catalyzing the Construction of a Chinese Higher Education Paradigm

催生中国高等教育范式构建

AI empowering higher education should gradually construct a “Chinese paradigm” aimed at serving national strategic guidance, centered on high-quality talent cultivation, and based on the concept of embodying Chinese characteristics. On the one hand, adhering to the socialist direction of running schools, implementing the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education [2]2 “Fostering virtue through education” (立德树人) is a core principle of Chinese education, emphasizing moral cultivation as the foundation of talent development., and cultivating socialist builders and successors who are well-developed morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and labor-wise are the fundamental guidelines for the development of higher education. Higher education must take this as its guiding principle. With the support of AI, it should redefine the value of human knowledge and ability, shift the focus from cultivating students’ knowledge and skills to cultivating their independent innovation capabilities, build a new intelligent, open, and inclusive educational ecosystem, accelerate the process of Chinese-style educational modernization, and cultivate high-quality talents who meet the development needs of the times and are capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation.

人工智能赋能高等教育，要逐步构建以服务国家战略导向为目标、以高质量育人为核心、以体现中国特色为理念的“中国范式”。一方面，坚持社会主义办学方向、落实立德树人根本任务、培养德智体美劳全面发展的社会主义建设者和接班人，是高等教育发展的根本遵循。高等教育要以此为指导原则，在人工智能的加持下，重新定义人的知识和能力价值，注重对学生从知识技能积累转向自主创新能力的培养，构建智能、开放、包容的育人新生态，加速推进中国式教育现代化进程，培养符合时代发展需求、能堪当民族复兴重任的高质量人才。

On the other hand, AI reconstructs a new paradigm of educational equity. Educational equity is an inherent requirement and value goal of high-quality educational development. Achieving educational equity requires multiple measures and coordinated efforts, especially the empowerment of digital technology. For example, since the implementation of the “MOOC Western China Tour Plan” by China’s Ministry of Education, it has consistently adhered to the deep integration of digital technology and education and teaching as a key means and carrier for promoting educational equity. [3]3 The “MOOC Western China Tour Plan” (慕课西部行计划) is a Chinese government initiative to share high-quality online courses from eastern universities with institutions in the less-developed western regions. This is not only a vivid practice of higher education in the New Era fully leveraging the advantages of the new nationwide system [4]4 The “new nationwide system” (新型举国体制) refers to a modernized version of China’s traditional state-led mobilization of resources, adapted to market conditions and technological innovation. but also an important measure to push educational equity toward high-quality development. In summary, AI empowering higher education, through the systematization and integration of resource supply, allows high-quality educational resources to benefit every student more widely, providing a practical and feasible development path for achieving higher-quality educational equity and offering technical support for the development of higher education.

另一方面，人工智能重构教育公平新范式。教育公平是教育高质量发展的应有之义和价值目标。教育公平的实现需要多措并举、协同发力，尤其是数字技术的赋能。比如，我国教育部实施“慕课西部行计划”以来，始终坚持将数字技术与教育教学深度融合，作为推动教育公平发展的关键手段和载体。这不仅是新时代高等教育充分发挥新型举国体制优势的生动实践，也是推动教育公平迈向高质量发展的重要举措。总之，人工智能赋能高等教育通过资源供给的系统化和集成化，让优质教育资源更广泛地惠及每一位学生，为实现更高质量的教育公平提供了切实可行的发展路径，为高等教育发展提供了技术支撑。

Steering the Strategic Engine of Building a Powerful Country in Education

领航教育强国战略引擎

In January 2025, the “Education Powerhouse Construction Plan Outline (2024–2035)” issued by the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council proposed: “By 2035, build a powerful country in education,” and that universities should “establish a mechanism for adjusting discipline settings and talent cultivation models driven by technological development and national strategic needs.” Serving national strategic needs is the contemporary responsibility of universities, and steering with AI to achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening is an important mission for universities in serving national strategic needs.

2025年1月，中共中央、国务院印发的《教育强国建设规划纲要（2024—2035年）》提出：“到2035年，建成教育强国”，高校要“建立科技发展、国家战略需求牵引的学科设置调整机制和人才培养模式”。服务国家战略需求是高校的时代责任，而以人工智能领航，实现高水平科技自立自强是高校服务国家战略需求的重要使命。

From the perspective of educational administrators, they should strengthen top-level design, take multiple measures, and coordinate efforts to issue strategic plans for AI empowering the development of higher education, clarifying development goals and rules and regulations in key areas such as technological research and development, talent cultivation, and ethical governance; improve supporting policies and incentive mechanisms, establish special funds to support AI scientific research innovation, laboratory construction, teaching resource development, and teacher training in universities; and provide guarantees and support for the development of AI-empowered higher education from the perspectives of strategic designers, resource allocators, and risk preventers.

从教育管理者角度来讲，教育管理者应加强顶层设计、多措并举、协同发力，出台人工智能赋能高等教育发展的战略规划，明确技术研发、人才培养、伦理治理等关键领域的发展目标和规章制度；完善配套政策和激励机制，设立专项基金支持高校人工智能科研创新、实验室建设、教学资源开发和教师培训等；从战略设计者、资源调配者和风险防范者角度为人工智能赋能高等教育发展提供保障与支持。

From the perspective of higher-education institutions, they must proactively embrace the opportunities and challenges of the era of artificial intelligence, fully leverage the advantages of science and technology as the primary productive force, talent as the primary resource, and innovation as the primary driving force, accelerate exploration of the deep application of artificial intelligence in the field of higher education, and carry out deep-level, systemic transformations across multiple dimensions such as educational philosophy, training models, management mechanisms, team building, and evaluation systems, constructing an “AI+” education system, promoting changes in teaching content, learning methods, talent cultivation, and school-running forms, and using digitalization to advance the new development of higher education.

从高校角度来讲，高校要主动拥抱人工智能时代的机遇和挑战，充分发挥科技第一生产力、人才第一资源和创新第一动力的优势，加快探索人工智能在高等教育领域的深度应用，从教育理念、培养模式、管理机制、队伍建设、评价体系等多个维度开展深层次、系统性变革，构建“AI+”教育体系，推动教学内容、学习方式、人才培养、办学形态的转变，以数字化促进高等教育新发展。

From the perspective of teachers, human-machine collaboration will define the new form of future education. Teachers should clearly understand, in their thinking, the reshaping of the teacher’s role by artificial intelligence, and clearly recognize that artificial intelligence should not be regarded as a replacement for teachers, but rather as a “cognitive enhancement partner.” This “human-led, machine-assisted” collaborative model both preserves the humanistic care of education and enhances the scientific nature of teaching. Therefore, higher education will form an “educational triangle” of interaction among teachers, artificial intelligence, and students, releasing the technological dividend while maintaining the essence of education, allowing teachers more energy to devote to guiding and inspiring students and to innovation in scientific research, thereby achieving the goals of enlightening wisdom and forging souls [5]5 “Enlightening wisdom and forging souls” (启智铸魂) is a four-character idiom commonly used in Chinese educational discourse to describe the dual goal of developing students’ intellectual abilities and shaping their moral character., engaging in dedicated research, and supporting the growth and development of teachers.

从教师角度来讲，人机协同将定义未来教育新形态。教师应在思想上明确人工智能对教师角色的重塑，明确人工智能不应被视为教师的替代者，而应作为“认知增强伙伴”。这种“人类主导—机器辅助”的协作模式既保持了教育的人文关怀，又提升了教学科学性。因此，高等教育将形成教师、人工智能、学生三方互动的“教育三角”，在保持教育本质的同时释放技术红利，让教师有更多精力用于对学生的引导、启发和科研的创新，做到启智铸魂、潜心研究，助力教师的成长与发展。

From the perspective of students, students are not only beneficiaries of artificial intelligence technology but also builders who drive future educational innovation. Artificial intelligence makes possible students’ personalized development and lifelong learning. Students should actively learn artificial intelligence technology, master basic digital tools, establish a knowledge system of artificial intelligence, improve their digital intelligence literacy, build data security awareness, cultivate core competencies suited to the intelligent era, become “high-level AI controllers,” and, under the guidance of teachers and with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools, cultivate their own creativity, their ability to understand and apply interdisciplinary knowledge, and their ability to solve complex practical problems.

从学生角度来讲，学生既是人工智能技术的受益者，更是推动未来教育创新的建设者。人工智能为学生个性化发展和终身学习提供了可能，学生应主动学习人工智能技术，掌握基础数字工具，建立人工智能知识体系，提高数智素养，构建数据安全意识，培养适应智能时代的核心能力，成为“AI高阶驾驭者”，并在教师指导和人工智能工具辅助下，培养自身创造力、跨学科知识的理解和运用能力，以及解决复杂实际问题的能力。

(The author is the Party Secretary of East China University of Technology)

（作者系东华理工大学党委书记）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心