AI in higher education: implications for diversity of languages and inclusion of knowledges from the global South
Kyria Rebeca Finardi · 2026
As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies become increasingly embedded in higher education, critical engagement with their use is essential to ensure equity, inclusion, and linguistic and epistemological diversity. This paper reports on an ongoing research project that investigates the implications of AI for knowledge access and production across the Global South and Global North, focusing on higher education institutions. Building on recent scholarship that highlights the risks of digital inequality, linguistic hegemony, and epistemic exclusion, the project explores how AI applications intersect with language diversity, power asymmetries, and the inclusion of knowledges from underrepresented regions. Through a mixed-methods approach that combines bibliometric analyses, qualitative interviews, and contrastive case studies of institutional policies and practices, the ongoing research project aims to shed light on the cultural, linguistic, and geopolitical dimensions of AI in higher education. Virtual exchange (VE) projects are also used as both a pedagogical approach and research strategy seeking to foster international collaboration among participants of the project thus amplifying underrepresented voices to inform more inclusive AI policies and practices in global academic ecosystems. Expected results of the project include a critical mapping of AI use across diverse geopolitical and linguistic settings, the identification of risks and opportunities related to epistemic inclusion, especially concerning underrepresented languages, knowledge and contributions to theoretical and policy-relevant debates on language, power and knowledge production in the age of AI.