Part III. AI, Hybrid Intelligence, and Postdigital Selfhood

Abstract

The concept of human agency is undergoing significant reconsideration as interdisciplinary advances in artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, reshaping educational theory and practice. Building on and extending the recent work of Code and colleagues, this paper proposes a framework of generative self-regulation that redefines human agency within AI-enhanced learning environments. This framework, designed to foster collaboration and shared understanding, integrates perspectives from self-regulated learning, socially shared regulation of learning, human–AI hybrid intelligence, and contemporary research on generative AI in education. The resulting framework provides a foundation for understanding and designing productive human–AI learning partnerships in which agency is distributed, co-constructed, and dynamically negotiated. The paper proceeds as follows: first, I reconceptualize self-regulated learning (SRL) for the generative AI era; second, I examine socially shared regulation within human–AI learning collectives; third, I explore hybrid intelligence and complementary cognition as foundations for collaborative agency; fourth, I analyze the roles of generative AI tools as regulatory scaffolds and learning partners; fifth, I outline the development of generative self-regulatory competencies; and finally, I consider the future of agency within emerging human–AI educational ecosystems. This integrative approach offers a pathway toward more equitable, transparent, and agentic futures for AI-supported learning.