Regulating artificial intelligence in Higher Education:

Higher education institutions need to carefully consider how effective and appropriate their approaches are to learning, teaching and assessing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a way to improve the quality of their role in a constantly evolving society. There has been a significant increase in the perceived opportunities and challenges around AI, and some higher education institutions have begun to develop policies on the impact of AI on university life. However, to date no studies have critically analyzed how higher education institutions are regulating AI. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the regulations established by universities in two countries (United States and Spain) on the use of AI in higher institutions. A qualitative approach was used for data collection and analysis. Although Spain (as part of the European Union) and the USA have different legal approaches to regulating the use and application of the technology, the documents analyzed seek to minimize the potential harms of AI through regulation. The recommendations on teaching, learning and research impose constant ethics as a guiding criterion to be considered. The aim is not penalizing or limiting but adding to AI fundamental criteria and guidelines for use. In addition, this paper finds that there is no solid policy on how to approach the epistemological challenge raised by AI in research. The current study and future ones on AI are part of an emerging and significant development in educational research that alludes to the study of the AI narrative.