Bridging the Center-Periphery Divide: Human Rights and Public Policy in AI-Driven Learning Societies

AI, Ethics, and Access: Designing Inclusive Digital Systems for the Next Billion Users

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence–driven systems across public and private sectors has transformed how individuals access information, services, and economic opportunities. While artificial intelligence holds significant promise for advancing development, efficiency, and innovation, its benefits are unevenly distributed. A growing body of evidence indicates that AI systems frequently reproduce or amplify existing social inequalities, particularly for populations in low- and middle-income regions, marginalized communities, and digitally excluded groups. As global digital expansion increasingly targets the “next billion users,” ethical considerations surrounding access, inclusion, fairness, and accountability have become central to the design and governance of intelligent systems. This review presents a comprehensive conceptual analysis of the ethical challenges and opportunities associated with designing inclusive AI systems for emerging user populations. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship from artificial intelligence ethics, development studies, human–computer interaction, information systems, and public policy, the paper examines how structural inequality, data bias, infrastructural gaps, and governance asymmetries shape AI outcomes. The review critically evaluates dominant AI ethics frameworks, highlighting their limitations in addressing access disparities and contextual diversity. It further explores how principles such as fairness, transparency, accountability, and inclusivity can be operationalized in low-resource and culturally diverse environments. The paper advances an integrated conceptual framework for inclusive AI design that foregrounds access, contextual sensitivity, participatory development, and ethical governance. It argues that inclusive AI is not solely a technical challenge but a socio-political and ethical imperative requiring coordinated action among developers, policymakers, institutions, and communities. By situating AI ethics within the realities of global inequality, the study contributes to ongoing debates on responsible innovation and provides practical insights for designing digital systems that serve the next billion users in an equitable and sustainable manner.

From innovation to inclusion: Advancing equity through AI policy and governance in South African higher education

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in higher education, empirical evidence on how institutional governance shapes its equitable and responsible implementation in South African universities remains limited. This study examined how institutional policies and governance practices influence the implementation and equitable use of AI in undergraduate education while contributing to international discourse on responsible AI governance. Guided by an interpretivist research paradigm, the study adopted a qualitative approach and employed a single-case study design within one public university in South Africa. Participants comprised university leaders, academic staff, professional support staff, and undergraduate students involved in or affected by AI governance and implementation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis and analysed using thematic analysis supported by inductive coding. The findings indicate that limited policy transparency, context-insensitive governance frameworks, unequal access to AI technologies, and weak institutional accountability can reinforce educational inequalities, particularly among first-generation and under-resourced students. Conversely, participatory governance, transparent decision-making, stakeholder engagement, and enhanced digital literacy promote more equitable and responsible AI implementation. The study proposes a multi-level governance model integrating institutional policy, stakeholder participation, and pedagogical practice to strengthen equitable AI adoption. It concludes that higher education institutions should develop context-sensitive AI governance frameworks, strengthen institutional capacity, and expand equitable access to AI technologies to advance fairness, inclusion, and responsible AI implementation.

Empowering the AI-Literate Learners: Evaluating the Intersection of Digital Governance and Academic Integrity

It is concluded that in order for undergraduate education to continue to be relevant in a society where AI is pervasive, governance must change toward process-oriented evaluation and relational originality.

Privatisation, Neoliberalism, and the Right to Education in Contemporary India: Implications for Marginalised Communities

The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, represents a landmark shift in India’s education policy, embedding elementary education within a rights-based framework to advance social equity. However, more than a decade after its implementation, persistent disparities among marginalised communities raise critical questions about the relationship between legal entitlement and substantive equality. This paper interrogates the extent to which the RTE Act has translated its normative commitment to equity into tangible outcomes for historically disadvantaged groups, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities, and economically weaker sections. Illustrating a public administration and social justice framework, the study situates the RTE Act within broader debates on state capacity, governance deficits, and policy implementation gaps. It integrates theoretical insights from Amartya Sen’s capability approach, Rawlsian justice, and Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction to examine how structural inequalities mediate access to, and experiences of, schooling. Methodologically, the paper adopts a qualitative-analytical approach, combining policy analysis with secondary data and existing empirical studies to evaluate both institutional design and ground-level realities. Studies suggest that while the RTE Act has expanded formal access to education, it has been less effective in addressing deep-rooted socio-economic and cultural barriers, resulting in what may be termed “procedural inclusion without substantive equity.” Implementation challenges, such as uneven state capacity, weak accountability mechanisms, and persistent exclusionary practices, have constrained the policy's transformative potential. The study argues that the gap between legal mandate and social reality reflects not merely administrative shortcomings but the structural limits of rights-based approaches in deeply stratified societies. The paper contributes to the study by offering a conceptually integrated and critically grounded analysis of education policy in India, highlighting the need to move beyond access-centric frameworks toward equity-oriented, context-sensitive governance reforms. It also provides broader insights for Global South contexts where rights-based education policies confront entrenched inequalities.

14. AI Adoption and Governance in Latin American and Caribbean Higher Education: Findings from a Regional Survey

Policy Silence as Governance: AI Decision-Making, Responsibility, and Risk in K–12 Education

Applying Critical Policy Analysis and Jencks’ framework of educational opportunity, the study shows that policy silence is not the absence of governance but a governance choice, one that shapes how access, responsibility, and fairness are determined.