The research aims to identify the advantages of automating higher education based on artificial intelligence (AI). It examines the experience of ten emerging digital economies that achieved the highest levels of EdTech development in 2024. As a result, the authors developed an econometric model to explain the impact that automating higher education using AI has on EdTech. The theoretical contribution of the model lies in its revelation of patterns in smart automation within developing countries. The managerial significance of the model is that it allows for improving the practice of managing smart automation in universities of developing countries. The conclusion is that automating higher education through AI reduces geographical inequality in access to higher education, enhances gender parity among university faculty, decreases inequality in access to higher education among students with different income levels, and improves gender parity among university students. However, it also requires increased government spending per university student, which reduces the number of teachers per student in universities. The primary practical outcome of the research is the forecast of the consequences of full smart automation for EdTech in Armenia by the end of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The empirical value of this forecast is that it can serve as a roadmap for automating higher education using AI in Armenia.