Post: What College Students Think About Artificial Intelligence

Key points

Students mostly use AI to help them prepare for assignments and exams by gathering and verifying information.

Students view using AI to generate responses, write papers, or answer questions as a form of cheating.

Students expect faculty to only use AI as a preparation tool and disclose when it has been used.

Source: Wes Hicks / Unsplash Last month, I attended the DREAM conference in Philadelphia, and the buzziest conversations were around artificial intelligence (AI). Two keynotes and no fewer than a half dozen sessions discussed how AI is rapidly changing how students learn and complete assignments, and how colleges enroll, educate, support, and retain those students. Surely, no part of higher education will go untouched by AI.

One voice that was largely absent from these conversations was that of the students. Since the launch of GPT-4 in March 2023, there has been a pervasive fear among educators that students are more than eager to let AI do all their work for them and that we must be their shepherds of honesty and virtue. But is that true? Recent studies paint a far more nuanced picture of how college students think about and use AI. Students think AI is great for gathering information

According to 2024 data, 86 percent of students already use AI in their studies , with 54 percent using it at least weekly. Moreover, 56 percent of students believe AI helps them learn, and 48 percent believe AI boosts their grades. But how do students use AI? Students appear to use AI for two distinct academic reasons: gathering information and generating responses.

The main reason why students use AI is to prepare for assignments and exams by gathering information/sources, summarizing notes, and validating facts. This use of AI is generally seen as acceptable. For example, students and teachers alike largely rated AI as OK to use during brainstorming and outlining as long as the use of AI is disclosed. In fact, Dr. Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School demonstrated at DREAM how he encourages his business students to use AI to generate entrepreneurial ideas for class […]

What College Students Think About Artificial Intelligence