AI assisted learning and research: an exploratory study among university students and scholars

Abstract

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies especially generative AI (GenAI) are promising to support the digital transformation of education system. This study investigates how university students and research scholars across Science, Social Science, and Technology disciplines utilise AI technologies for tasks such as understanding and learning, academic writing, literature searching, plagiarism detection, etc. A structured online questionnaire was administered to collect data among 500 students and scholars, achieving an 84% response rate (421 participants). The study employed chi-square test, phi test, Cramer’s V test and binary logistic regression analysis to statistically establish the association between the variables and to identify the predictors of AI adoption. The findings indicate that over 90% of respondents use AI to support their academic activities. ChatGPT (used for 4 activities) followed by Grammarly and Quillbot turned out to be the most popular ones. The study identified a significant difference in AI adoption across academic levels. Discipline influenced AI usage in one third of the respondent’s academic activities, whereas AI adoption remained gender-neutral across the cohorts. Social Science group exhibited a higher likelihood of using AI for plagiarism detection and literature reviewing. 9.7% of respondents stayed away from AI owing to unawareness, ethical concerns and trust issues. The results highlight the need for AI literacy programs and robust institutional policies to promote its ethical and beneficial use among academics. Such initiatives could ensure equitable access to AI resources and foster an informed user base capable of leveraging AI technologies effectively.

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