Academic Work and Alienation in the Automatic University: A Marxian Critical Essay

Fahrizal Fahrizal; Dian Senly Andika; Agung Winarno; Subagyo Subagyo

doi:10.55927/fjas.v4i12.485

Authors

Fahrizal Fahrizal Universitas Negeri Malang
Dian Senly Andika Universitas Negeri Malang
Agung Winarno Universitas Negeri Malang
Subagyo Subagyo Universitas Negeri Malang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/fjas.v4i12.485

Keywords:

Academic Alienation, Automatic University, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Capitalism, Educational Resistance

Abstract

This article examines contemporary academic work through a Marxian analysis of alienation in the context of digital capitalism and artificial intelligence (AI). The study aims to conceptualise how AI systems and platform infrastructures intensify existing forms of alienated labour and reshape higher education into what is described as the automatic university. Using a conceptual and critical methodology, the analysis synthesises key contributions from Marxian theory, critical political economy, and scholarship on digital labour and AI in education. The findings show that academic work is increasingly organised through automated governance that restructures time, evaluation, and judgement, leading to the dehumanisation of educational practices. The article concludes that educational resistance must be understood as a collective and institutional project, and that an ethics of academic work requires reclaiming judgement, authorship, and epistemic responsibility within increasingly automated universities.

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