yousra lafhel -, Laila Belhaj -
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is entering higher education faster than universities can determine when it supports learning and when it substitutes for the intellectual work required to achieve it. This conceptual article examines this tension in Moroccan public universities through a systemic approach that connects learner cognition, pedagogical practices, institutional conditions, and national digital reform. Drawing on cognitive neuroscience and learning sciences—particularly research on working memory, retrieval practice, spacing, feedback, and self-regulated learning—it distinguishes cognitive support from cognitive substitution. GenAI can enhance learning when students remain responsible for retrieving knowledge, reasoning, verifying information, and revising their work; conversely, it may weaken learning when it performs these target cognitive processes on their behalf. The article proposes an interactive three-level framework encompassing the learner, the course, and the public university. Five design dimensions link these levels: cognitive alignment, pedagogical orchestration, learner autonomy, contextual inclusion, and responsible governance. The framework is translated into design principles, an implementation sequence, and six research propositions for empirical investigation in Morocco. It connects national ambitions for digital transformation with pedagogical practices that can be assessed in terms of retention, transfer, equity, and feasibility, while keeping human judgment at the centre of educational decision-making.