Generative AI as Transformative Pedagogy for Cultural Competence Education: An Essential for Future-Ready Higher Education

The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) is unsettling regimes of knowledge production and dissemination in higher education. Cultural competence (CC) is recognised as a core graduate capability for global citizenship and professional effectiveness, yet empirical evidence on how Gen AI can nurture CC remains scarce. This study investigates how an in-house Gen AI chatbot can cultivate CC in university students. Guided by the ACT model of cultural competence, transformational learning theory, and critical pedagogy, we conducted a qualitative study of student experiences with an AI-simulated debate platform that stages contested dialogues and provides rubric-based feedback. 32 undergraduates at a Thai university engaged in three debates and reflective questionnaire. Thematic analysis indicates meaningful growth across all ACT domains—Activating consciousness, Connecting relations, and Transforming practices. The AI-mediated simulations exposed learners to disorienting uncertainties, reconfiguring cognitive schemas, catalysing critical reflection, and prompting action oriented toward social justice; participants also reported heightened AI literacy. The intervention thus enabled transformative pedagogy across cultural contexts, while underscoring the imperative for universities to purposefully integrate AI in order to equip graduates with future-critical skills. However, remaining ambiguities concerning the shifting positionalities of educators, learners, and AI warrant further investigation.