In response to the national strategy for science and technology innovation， promote education modernization， and cultivate innovative talents to meet the needs of the new era， this paper focuses on the paths for artificial intelligence to empower higher education. It elaborates on the significance of artificial intelligence in empowering higher education and explores three key pathways： constructing a smart education environment， deepening curriculum construction and the application of artificial intelligence technology in teaching， and optimizing the education evaluation and management systems through big data and artificial intelligence technology. It also reveals specific application of artificial intelligence technology in teaching， management， and evaluation. Finally， taking the practices of Chongqing University as an example， the effectiveness of these pathways in practical applications is shown， to improve the quality and efficiency of education， promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence and education， and accelerate the innovation of talent training models.