Symbiotic Cognition and Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Implications for University Teaching Competencies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53382/issn.2810-7977.53Keywords:
artificial intelligence, higher education, teaching competencies, educational innovation, human-computer interaction, symbiotic cognitionAbstract
The incorporation of generative artificial intelligence systems into higher education is transforming traditional approaches to teaching, learning, and knowledge production. This scenario poses significant challenges to conventional models of teaching competencies, which are grounded in the assumption that cognitive processes depend exclusively on human capabilities. The aim of this study is to analyze the notion of symbiotic cognition as a conceptual framework for understanding emerging forms of interaction between university educators and artificial intelligence systems.
A theoretical-conceptual study was conducted through a structured narrative review of specialized literature published between 2010 and 2025. The review included international academic databases and relevant publications addressing artificial intelligence, higher education, teaching competencies, and contemporary theories of cognition.
The findings indicate that human–AI collaboration is fostering the emergence of new teaching competencies related to the critical supervision of algorithms, the validation of AI-generated content, algorithmic literacy, the evaluation of automated information, and the design of technology-enhanced learning experiences. In addition, the results reveal transformations in the academic role and highlight the growing need to strengthen ethical, critical, and regulatory capacities for managing shared cognitive processes.
The study concludes that symbiotic cognition constitutes a relevant theoretical category for interpreting contemporary transformations in university teaching within human–AI collaborative environments. This perspective conceptualizes knowledge production as a process of functional interdependence between human intelligence and artificial intelligence and provides a conceptual foundation for future research and faculty development initiatives in higher education.
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