The rise of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) offers transformative opportunities and challenges for higher education, prompting a critical question: How can this technology reshape learning while preserving the unique strengths of human cognition? This paper explores how GAI can be integrated into a heutagogical framework to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment, fostering human intelligence and agency. Heutagogy, derived from the Greek word 'heutos' meaning self, is a pedagogical approach that emphasizes self-determined learning, where learners take significant control over their educational journeys, including the design of their curriculum and assessment processes. By analyzing AI's strengths and limitations, the paper highlights how AI's computational capabilities can complement human cognition's emotional and ethical dimensions. A novel AI-augmented heutagogical framework is proposed, aligning with increasing learner autonomy and cognitive complexity as defined by the SOLO Taxonomy. This framework enables personalized learning pathways while fostering both crystallized and fluid intelligence. Successful integration requires intentional pedagogical shifts, faculty development, and strategic infrastructure investments. By emphasizing learner agency and self-directed learning, heutagogy supports intrinsic motivation and critical twenty-first-century competencies. This approach positions higher education to evolve beyond merely building human capital toward fostering comprehensive human development in an AI-augmented world.
Ng et al. (2025) studied this question.