Abstract:

Artificial intelligence (AI) has an ever-increasing impact on academia. On the one hand, it influences students' interaction with learning platforms (by allowing them to customize their learning experience according to their needs, preferences and learning style), with AI-based writing tools (improving the overall quality of their written work), with AI chatbots as self-studying tools (for quick access to information, answers to questions, anticipation of problems, etc.). On a similar note, AI can be used to improve student academic performance and is complementary to personalized assessments, plagiarism detection and learning analytics. On the other hand, the impact of AI on teaching and learning also raises concerns regarding the issues of fair and useful assessments, integrity and academic ethics, as noted by higher education stakeholders. Moreover, there is still little consensus on the benefits and challenges of AI in education, and on the evolution of higher education's relationship with AI in the coming decades.

Our research is based on a survey applied to students from several Romanian universities, and addresses their attitude and experiences regarding AI tools, the effectiveness of their use in education, and students’ expectations of the impact of AI on the future career. We found an apparent familiarity with different chatbots, an inconsistent use (and not necessarily associated with learning performance) of AI tools, often doubled by a certain distrust or disinterest in using AI tools in the accumulation of personally and professionally useful skills and knowledge. While aware of the considerable impact of AI on the economy and society, students expect the transformation to be gradual, not to affect their future career opportunities.

The results of our research can be useful to guide educational policies, especially in university education, taking into account the challenges of contemporary society, paying attention to the perspectives of all stakeholders involved, and aiming to make AI in education effective, relevant and open to changing needs of students and educators.

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence, students, attitude, education, career.