The Use of Artificial Intelligence among Students in Higher Education

Abstract

Background/Purpose: Artificial intelligence (AI) impacts our everyday lives, from business to social areas, and, in recent years, more and more education. This paper aims to discuss using artificial intelligence tools for educational purposes from the student’s perspective.
Methods: A quantitative approach was used for the research using the questioning method. Data were collected using an e-survey. The questionnaire contained closed questions referring to (i) general data, (ii) the use of specific artificial intelligence tools, and open questions (iii) about using artificial intelligence for study purposes. Parametric Independent – Samples t-Test and One-Way ANOVA tests were used for normal and near-normal distributions of the responses.
Results: The study conducted with 258 university students in Slovenia reveals a general familiarity with AI concepts yet with a limited ability to articulate this understanding. Popular AI tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly are predominantly used for information retrieval and idea generation. Notable differences in AI tool usage were observed based on gender and field of study.
Conclusion: The rapid advancement of AI is significantly transforming higher education. Integrating AI into education fosters the development of adaptive, personalized, and inclusive learning environments. Due to the study’s limited sample size and geographic focus, further research with more diverse samples is needed to understand global AI tool usage in higher education fully.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, AI tools, Higher education, Students, Skills