Investigating Ethical, Security and Pedagogical Challenges of Generative AI Adoption in Higher Education: A Fuzzy Delphi-DEMATEL Approach

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly transforming higher education by enhancing teaching, learning and academic administration. However, its widespread adoption has introduced critical ethical, security, pedagogical and governance concerns that remain fragmented across existing literature. Grounded in Socio-Technical Systems Theory and the Responsible AI Framework, this study aims to identify, validate and examine the interrelationships among the key challenges associated with GenAI adoption in higher education. To achieve this objective, a hybrid Fuzzy Delphi–Fuzzy DEMATEL approach was employed to establish expert consensus on the identified challenges and to analyse their causal relationships. The findings reveal five major challenge dimensions: ethical education, security concerns, training and resource availability, student engagement and monitoring and regulation and governance. The results indicate that ethical education and regulatory governance act as the primary driving factors influencing the responsible and effective implementation of GenAI, whereas security, faculty preparedness and student engagement emerge as dependent challenge areas. The study highlights the need for comprehensive AI governance mechanisms, ongoing faculty and student capacity building, strengthened ethical awareness and robust cybersecurity practices to enable sustainable GenAI integration in higher education. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge in three ways. First, it extends the application of Socio-Technical Systems Theory and Responsible AI principles to the context of GenAI adoption in higher education. Second, it integrates Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy DEMATEL methods to provide a structured and systematic framework for prioritizing and analysing adoption challenges. Third, it offers actionable insights and practical recommendations for policymakers, university leaders and educators to support responsible, secure and sustainable implementation of Generative AI in higher education.