Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming education, creating opportunities for personalization, efficiency, and engagement while also raising concerns about misinformation, overreliance, and the erosion of critical thinking. To navigate these tensions, this article argues for the necessity of a coherent theoretical framework to guide the educational adoption of AI. Drawing on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and its construct of shared metacognition, we outline how collaborative inquiry can integrate AI in ways that preserve human agency and sustain deep and meaningful learning.

We examine the potential for AI to assume multiple roles within a community of inquiry—supporting instructional design, guiding learners as an independent resource, assisting instructors through analytics, participating in discussions, and sustaining dialogical partnerships with students. While these roles highlight the capacity of AI to enrich learning communities, they also underscore risks of passivity, diminished authenticity, and overdependence if reflective inquiry is bypassed.

We argue that shared metacognition—collective monitoring and management of thinking—offers a responsible pathway for educators and learners to engage critically with AI-generated outputs, ensuring that technology strengthens rather than supplants collaborative inquiry. In conclusion, we contend that AI can contribute to worthwhile educational experiences only when framed within a coherent conceptual perspective that emphasizes skeptical engagement, collaborative reflection, and the preservation of human purpose. In this regard, the CoI framework has considerable potential to provide understanding and guidance in the adoption of AI tools.

Keywords

artificial intelligence · AI · the community of inquiry framework · CoI · shared metacognition · critical thinking · collaborative inquiry