Artificial Intelligence, Higher Education Transformation, and Digital Social Inequality: A Comparative Institutional Analysis of the United Kingdom and China

Abstract

This article examines how artificial intelligence integration in higher education reshapes institutional governance, educational inequality, digital transformation, and socio-economic adaptation in the United Kingdom and China. The study argues that AI-driven educational transformation constitutes not merely a technological innovation but a structural reconfiguration of knowledge systems, institutional authority, educational access, and human-capital development. Using comparative institutional analysis, the article investigates how the United Kingdom’s market-oriented higher education governance system and China’s state-coordinated educational modernization model generate divergent patterns of AI adoption, educational inclusion, policy implementation, institutional legitimacy, and digital inequality. Drawing on UNESCO education reports, OECD digital education indicators, World Bank human-capital evidence, QS and Times Higher Education institutional datasets, and comparative social science literature, the findings demonstrate that AI integration effectiveness depends on institutional capacity, governance coordination, digital infrastructure, and educational equity mechanisms. The comparison reveals that the United Kingdom emphasizes institutional autonomy, innovation flexibility, and competitive digital adaptation, whereas China prioritizes centralized educational modernization, technological coordination, and strategic AI integration. The article contributes to social science scholarship by proposing a conceptual framework linking AI governance, educational institutions, digital inequality, human-capital transformation, and sustainable socio-economic development. The findings further indicate that AI-enabled higher education may strengthen educational accessibility and adaptive learning while simultaneously intensifying inequality, institutional stratification, and governance tensions when inclusion and accountability mechanisms remain insufficient.