Abstract: The application of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping public administration and poses significant challenges to public governance education. How such education should transform in the AI era demands an urgent response. Based on an impact assessment of AI applications in governance and a comparative analysis of public governance education reforms in typical European and American universities, this study finds that while AI enhances administrative efficiency and supports decision-making, it also brings four major risks: algorithmic black boxes, data security threats, ethical dilemmas, and human replacement. These challenges are disrupting conventional public governance education. Some Western universities have responded by introducing AI-related courses, deepening industry-academia collaboration, and strengthening ethics and critical thinking training. Insights from these reforms, this study enlightens us, suggest that public governance education in the AI era must learn to utilize AI wisely while upholding humanity’s “creative sovereignty” lest AI is reduced to be a tool that dominates rather than serves and humans to passive “technical appendages”. Looking ahead, public governance education should guard against the “erosion of capability” induced by AI. This entails improving students’ AI literacy on the technical front, reinforcing AI ethics and security awareness, and—in the dimension of thinking training—focusing on non-substitutable skills such as innovative thinking, critical analysis, creative problem-solving, and self-directed learning. The goal is to cultivate versatile public governance talent equipped with both AI technical proficiency and the ability to lead innovation.

Key words: artificial intelligence, public governance, public governance education, creative sovereignty