AI-ENABLED LEARNING AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT FOR ENHANCING INDUSTRY READINESS AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

AI-enabled learning presents a significant opportunity to strengthen the connection between higher education and the changing world of work. Its greatest value is not simply in automating teaching tasks, but in enabling more personalized learning, faster feedback, authentic practice, career-oriented skill mapping, and repeated workplace simulation. These capabilities can help institutions move from a primarily content-delivery model toward a competency-development model. At the same time, AI cannot by itself create industry-ready graduates. Employability depends on the integration of domain knowledge, practical experience, communication, problem solving, adaptability, professional judgment, and ethical behaviour. The proposed framework therefore positions AI as an augmentation layer within a human-centred educational system. Faculty expertise, employer participation, responsible governance, equitable access, and authentic assessment remain essential. The framework presented in this paper provides a foundation for future empirical research. Colleges and universities can test the proposed relationships through longitudinal, experimental, quasi-experimental, and mixed-method studies. By measuring actual skills and workplace performance alongside perceptions, future research can determine when and how AI-enabled learning produces meaningful improvements in graduate industry readiness.

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