Cyber Humanism in Education: Reclaiming Agency through AI and Learning Sciences
It addresses concerns about epistemic automation and de-professionalisation for educators and learners in AI-rich educational environments, offering a conceptual framework rather than incremental technical improvements.
This paper tackles the problem of generative AI reshaping education by proposing Cyber Humanism in Education as a framework to reclaim human agency, with findings from case studies showing how practices like prompt-based learning can strengthen epistemic agency while highlighting tensions around workload, equity, and governance.
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly reshaping how knowledge is produced and validated in education. Rather than adding another digital tool, large language models reconfigure reading, writing, and coding into hybrid human-AI workflows, raising concerns about epistemic automation, cognitive offloading, and the de-professiona\-lisation of teachers. This paper proposes \emph{Cyber Humanism in Education} as a framework for reclaiming human agency in this landscape. We conceptualise AI-enabled learning environments as socio-technical infrastructures co-authored by humans and machines, and position educators and learners as epistemic agents and \emph{algorithmic citizens} who have both the right and the responsibility to shape these infrastructures. We articulate three pillars for cyber-humanist design, \emph{reflexive competence}, \emph{algorithmic citizenship}, and \emph{dialogic design}, and relate them to major international digital and AI competence frameworks. We then present higher-education case studies that operationalise these ideas through \emph{prompt-based learning} and a new \emph{Conversational AI Educator} certification within the EPICT ecosystem. The findings show how such practices can strengthen epistemic agency while surfacing tensions around workload, equity, and governance, and outline implications for the future of AI-rich, human-centred education.