The NordRAI project investigates how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming collaborative learning and teaching in higher education across the Nordic region. While much of the existing research focuses on how students use GenAI individually to support writing, problem-solving, or inquiry, NordRAI shifts attention to the collective processes of building knowledge together with peers, faculty, and increasingly, with AI systems. The project addresses the gap in understanding how GenAI reshapes roles, responsibilities, and decision-making in group-based educational practices. It extends Stahl’s model of collaborative knowledge-building by incorporating GenAI as a dialogic and semi-autonomous actor in educational interaction. This extension raises critical questions about agency, authorship, accountability, and the dynamics of human-AI collaboration in learning environments.
Using a multi-grounded action research methodology, the project brings together empirical inquiry, theory development, and practical change. It explores how students and faculty experience GenAI as a collaborative partner, drawing on data collected through participatory design workshops, interviews, surveys, and institutional case studies across Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Special attention is given to how these experiences vary by institutional context, gender, and professional role, ensuring that intersectional perspectives are integrated into both the empirical analysis and the evolving theoretical model.
NordRAI’s research is designed to produce actionable insights for educational practice, providing evidence-based tools, concepts, and strategies to help universities, educators, and policymakers navigate the challenges and opportunities of GenAI. By analyzing how GenAI mediates learning agency and reshapes academic roles, the project develops a revised model that can guide responsible and inclusive AI integration in higher education. The outcomes are expected to inform professional development, curriculum design, and institutional strategies that align with Nordic values of equity, collaboration, and sustainability.
In doing so, NordRAI contributes to the Nordic region’s leadership in ethical AI adoption by advancing a socially responsible approach to digital transformation in education. The project ultimately seeks to ensure that GenAI serves as a tool for empowerment and learning rather than reinforcing inequalities or undermining human agency.
