Research proposes educational reconfiguration as the key to rebuilding trust and legitimacy in the age of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only transforming industries and daily life but also reshaping the foundations of governance, legitimacy, and citizenship. New research identifies a growing gap caused by the mismatch between rapidly advancing technology and more slowly evolving governance systems. This study argues that a legitimacy crisis can only be addressed through a dual reconfiguration of education: strengthening both AI literacy and civic literacy for a human–machine symbiotic society.

Since the wide adoption of generative AI systems after 2022, societies worldwide have entered an intelligence transition period. AI has reopened the “End of History” by creating new ideological alternatives, promoting competition between different governance models and reshaping the foundations of national legitimacy.

A study, which was made available online on February 17, 2026 in ECNU Review of Education, reexamines Francis Fukuyama’s “End of History” thesis in the light of recent AI breakthroughs. The research, led by Professor Yilei Shao from East China Normal University employs a problem-analysis-solution structure to explain how AI alters political legitimacy, national capacity, and the human condition. Using interdisciplinary analysis, the study identifies three singular transformations driven by AI, explores three structural gaps, and proposes dual-track educational reconfiguration to rebuild trust and institutional resilience.

“At precisely this moment, more than ever before, we need new forms of explanation, ability, legitimacy, and governance to fill the void of thoughts, trust, and policy,” said Prof. Shao. “This is the fundamental reason for the humanities and social sciences, and education to reconstitute themselves as the ‘new-quality infrastructure’ of a human–machine symbiotic society in front of us all.”

The study repositions education as the decisive mechanism for resolving the crisis of technological legitimacy, arguing that the most urgent task for education in the age of AI is to redefine its position and function within the social system.

The author calls for a deeper structural transformation. It proposes that future education should focus on cultivating two essential capacities: civic literacy for the AI society and the ability for human-AI collaboration. “Education must now shoulder the fundamental task of guiding societies through legitimacy crises, rebuilding public trust, and cultivating a new civic literacy for the AI era.” Prof. Shao concluded.

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Reference
Title of original paper: Dual Reconfiguration of Education: How AI Reopens the “End of History” Through the Technology–Governance Dual Curve
Journal: ECNU Review of Education
DOI: 10.1177/20965311261422769

Funding information
This work was supported by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission's “AI-Driven Scientific Research Paradigm Reform for Disciplinary Advancement Program” (Grant No. 2024AI01005).