Universities as Human-Agency Infrastructure: A Framework for Rethinking Higher Education in the Age of AI

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is converging with labor-market change, the proliferation of alternative credentials, and growing demands for public impact, placing the traditional university model under increasing pressure. This conceptual review argues that the central challenge is not whether universities will be replaced by AI, but whether they can move beyond a model organized around time-bound degree delivery. It proposes the Human-Agency Infrastructure Framework, which redefines the future university as a trusted system that helps people and societies build, verify, apply, and sustain human capabilities over time. The framework was developed abductively by integrating literature on human agency, the capability approach, higher education futures, AI in education, credentialing, innovation ecosystems, and public-purpose governance. It identifies four core institutional functions: building capabilities, verifying capabilities, applying capabilities, and sustaining belonging, enabled by governing trust as a foundation and boundary condition. The article then translates the framework into strategic shifts, governance questions, risks, and research propositions for universities seeking to remain relevant in an age of intelligence abundance.