The purpose of this paper is to clarify how the concept of generic skills is being redefined in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). It conducts an integrated analysis connecting their historical development with current educational and policy frameworks. Previous studies have addressed generic skills from two perspectives: first, as transferable or employability skills supporting adaptability in the labor market (Bennett et al., 1999; Andrews & Higson, 2008); and second, as competences taught and assessed within higher education (Jääskelä et al., 2018; Touloumakos, 2020). However, these views remain rooted in a pre-AI, human-centered context and overlook the emerging condition of human–AI collaboration. This study integrates three perspectives: (1) tracing the historical evolution of generic skills from the liberal arts to modern competency theories; (2) reinterpreting the “third mission” of universities as the institutional foundation linking generic skills education to social value creation (Compagnucci & Spigarelli, 2020); and (3) comparing international frameworks—such as the OECD Learning Compass 2030, UNESCO AI Competency Framework, and the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report—to identify key shifts specific to the AI era. The analysis reveals three conceptual transitions: from employability to human flourishing, from individual traits to relational capacities for human–AI collaboration, and from adaptive response to transformative agency. The findings suggest that as AI assumes more routine cognitive tasks, generic skills are becoming both more essential and more deeply human, forming the creative and meaningful core of capability in the twenty-first century.

Authors:
Fumiyo Seimiya, Hosei University, Japan
Rihyei Kang, Hosei University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Fumiyo Seimiya, CEO of Learning Design Center and doctoral researcher at Hosei University, studies Action Learning and leadership development. Her current project explores how Action Learning fosters generic skills in AI era.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fumiyo-seimiya-54a81527/

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