Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (GenAI) are rapidly transforming higher education, offering new possibilities for teaching, learning, assessment, and student support. For students with disabilities, these technologies hold tremendous promise: generative tools can enhance accessibility through adaptive content creation, personalized learning supports, multimodal communication aids, and real-time accommodations.
At the same time, as AI and GenAI become embedded in university systems and academic workflows, they introduce new risks. Applications in admissions, automated scoring, advising, or instructional design may overlook accessibility requirements, replicate harmful biases, or inadvertently disadvantage students with disabilities. Ensuring that these technologies promote equity and inclusion—rather than deepen existing disparities—requires rigorous research, thoughtful evaluation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
This session invites contributions that explore the opportunities, challenges, and implications of AI and GenAI in higher education for students with disabilities. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Deployment of AI tools in universities with attention to the needs of students with disabilities
- User studies on the adoption and impact of AI tools for students with disabilities in higher education
- Generative AI for accessible learning content, communication enhancement, or accommodation workflows
- Risk assessment of AI and GenAI used in higher-education processes (e.g., admissions, automated scoring, instruction, advising, learning analytics)
- Accessibility, representation, and fairness in datasets and models used to train AI/GenAI systems
- Participatory design approaches and evaluations involving students with disabilities
Chairs
Alireza Darvishy, Zurich University Of Applied Sciences