AI Tools in Higher Education through the Lens of the Social-Institutional Paradigm of Social Intercourse

The paper explores the fundamental characteristics of the socio-institutional paradigm used to study “social intercourse” (“obschenie”) in social philosophy. It also discusses the implications of this paradigm for higher education studies. Within this context, the authors view higher education as a process of social interactions between faculty and students. The starting point of the paper’s argument is an understanding of social intercourse (“obschenie”) as a multilevel social phenomenon, an adequate philosophical reflection of which implies three research paradigms: information-instrumental, existential-phenomenological, and social-institutional. Taking into account the impulsive expansion of AI instruments into everyday life, the authors promote the social-institutional paradigm for higher education social analytics, highlighting its emphasis on the transformation of university social relations. After a rather short overview of the socio-institutional paradigm within philosophy, the authors then examine promising avenues of contemporary social science research relevant to this paradigm. The authors identify three most promising areas: the development of microsociology and sociology of emotions toward the analysis of social structures and relations (R. Collins, J. Barbalet), institutional ethnography (D. Smith), and philosophical and anthropological rethinking of Marx’s heritage (D. Graeber, P. Virno). For each of the conceptual frames, the authors formulate research questions about higher education in the age of AI. These questions specify further directions for the social analytics of higher education that avoid both techno-optimism and techno-pessimism.

1. Rezaev, A.V., Stepanov, A.M., Tregubova, N.D. (2024). Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 49-62, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2024-33-4-49-62 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

2. Rezaev, A.V. (1993). Paradigmy obshcheniya. Vzglyad s pozitsii sotsial’noi filosofii [Social Intercourse Paradigms. Looking from Social Philosophy’s Positions]. St. Petersburg: Izd-vo SPbGU; Ivanovo: Polinform, 212 p. (In Russ.).

3. Rezaev, A.V. (2015). Reframing of “Social Intercourse” (“Obschenie”) through the Lens of Existential Phenomenological Paradigm. Voprosy filosofii = Voprosy Filosofii. No. 9, pp. 57-65. Available at: https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_24169886_17385232.pdf (accessed 27.02.2025). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

4. Rezaev, A.V, Tregubova, N.D. (2024). Philosophy of Social Intercourse and Artificial Intelligence: A Comparative Analysis. Epistemologiya i filosofiya nauki = Epistemology and Philosophy of Science. Vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 134-156, doi: 10.5840/eps202461230 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

5. Snow, Ch. (1959). The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. 32 p. Available at: https://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/students/envs_5110/snow_1959.pdf (accessed 27.02.2025). (Russian Translation: Moscow: Izd. “Progress”, 1985, pp. 195-226).

6. Wiener, N. (1950). The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society. The Riverside Press, Cambridge. 241 p. (Russian Translation: Moscow: Izd-vo inostrannoi literatury, 1958, 200 p.).

7. Dreyfus, H. (1817). What Computers Can’t Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason. Harper&Row Publ. 245 p. Available at: https://monoskop.org/images/c/ce/Dreyfus_Hubert_What_Computers_Cant_Do_A_Critique_of_Artificial_Reason.pdf (accessed 27.02.2025). (Russian Translation: Moscow: Progress, 1978, 334 p.).

8. Papert, S. (1968). The Artificial Intelligence of Hubert L. Dreyfus: A Budget of Fallacies. MIT AI Memo No. 154, 76 p.

9. Astakhov, S. (2020). Phenomenology vs Symbolic AI: Hubert Dreyfus’s Philosophy of Skill Acquisition. Logos = Logos. Vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 157-193, doi: 10.22394/0869-5377-2020-2-157-190 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

10. Il’enkov, E.V. (1968). On the Idols and the Ideals. Moscow: Politizdat, 319 p. (In Russ.).

11. Lee, K.-F. (2019). AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order. Moscow: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 240 p. ISBN: 978-5-00146-163-0 (In Russ.).

12. Alikina, E.V., Maltsev, D.V. (2024). Managing the University’s Educational Process Based on Predicting Students’ Academic Performance. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 33, no. 11, pp. 132-148, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2024-33-11-132-148 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

13. Bazanova, E.M., Gorizontova, A.V., Gribova, N.N., Chikake, T.M., Samosyuk, A.V. (2023). Development and Prospects of National Intelligent System for Testing General Language Competencies Deployed Through Neural Network Solutions. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 32, no. 8-9, pp. 147-166, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2023-32-8-9-147-166 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

14. Zakharov, A.A., Zakharova, I.G., Shabalin, A.M., Khanbekov, Sh.I., Dzhalilzoda, D.B. (2024). Intelligent Voice Assistant as an Example of Inclusive Design Methodology Implementation. Obrazovanie i nauka = The Education and Science Journal. Vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 149-175, doi: 10.17853/1994-5639-2024-3-149-175 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

15. Zashikhina, I.M. (2023). Scientific Article Writing: Will ChatGPT Help? Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 24-47, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2023-32-8-9-24-47 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

16. Skvorchevsky, K.A., Dyatlova, O.V. (2024). Modern Adaptive and Intelligent Digital Learning Systems: Mechanisms and Potential. Voprosy obrazovaniya = Educational Studies Moscow. No. 3 (2), pp. 299-337, doi: 10.17323/vo-2024-19751 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

17. Zyryanov, V.V. (2019). Research Supervisor: Between the Challenges of Time and the Realities of Higher Education. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 28, no. 10, pp. 25-37, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2019-28-10-25-37 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

18. Sysoyev, P.V. (2024). Ethics and AI-Plagiarism in an Academic Environment: Students’ Understanding of Compliance with Author’s Ethics and the Problem of Plagiarism in the Process of Interaction with Generative Artificial Intelligence. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 31-53, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2024-33-2-31-53 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

19. Chevtaeva, N.G., Bobrova, O.V., Kall, E. (2024). Academic Integrity in the Framework of a Student’s Sustainable Anti-Corruption Stance: Insights from Sociological Analysis. Obrazovanie i nauka = The Education and Science Journal. Vol. 26, no. 10, pp. 131-165, doi: 10.17853/1994-5639-2024-10-131-165 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

20. Sheinbaum, V.S., Nikolskiy, V.S. (2024). Engineering Activity and Engineering Thinking in the Context of Artificial Intelligence Expansion. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii = Higher Education in Russia. Vol. 33, no. 6, pp. 9-27, doi: 10.31992/0869-3617-2024-33-6-9-27 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

21. Marx, K., Engels, F. (1932). German Ideology. Collected Works, vol. 5. Available at: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ (accessed 05.03.2025). (Russian Translation: Works, vol. 3. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo politicheskoi literatury, 1955, pp. 7-544).

22. Collins, R. (2004). Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 464 p. ISBN: 9780691123899.

23. Barbalet, J. (1998). Emotion, Social Theory, and Social Structure: A Macrosociological Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 220 p. ISBN: 978-0521621908.

24. Smith, D.E. (2005). Institutional Ethnography: A Sociology for People. Toronto: AltaMira Press, 272 p. ISBN: 978-0759105027.

25. Graeber, D. (2006). Turning Modes of Production Inside Out: Or, Why Capitalism Is a Transformation of Slavery. Critique of Anthropology. Vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 61-85, doi: 10.1177/0308275X06061484

26. Virno, P. (2013). A Grammar of the Multitude: For an Analysis of Contemporary Forms of Life. Moscow: Ad Marginem Press, 144 p. ISBN: 978-5-91103-249-4. (In Russ.).