Was This Title Generated by AI? How University Students Use and Experience AI for Academic Work.
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2025-06-19
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en
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This thesis investigates how students perceive and experience the use of generative AI for academic work. While prior research has adopted quantitative approaches focused on behavioural predictors, this study employs qualitative, student-centred methodology to explore the practicalities, reasoning and emotions that determine AI use. Through in-depth interviews with eleven Dutch bachelor students, the study investigated the motivations and reflections behind their AI use. Thematic analysis revealed: (1) students strategically use AI to complete their work, particularly for repetitive/time-consuming tasks; (2) while appreciating convenience, students express ambivalence about AI’s long-term impacts on skill development; (3) ethical concerns about AI are acknowledged but outweighed by more direct academic consequences; (4) students view AI as inevitable to their future careers and advocate for clearer institutional guidelines to match. This challenges the idea of passive AI dependency by showing that students critically assess how to use AI. By focusing on students’ own perspectives, this study extends the literature on AI use in education and supports the need for policies that better reflect students’ lived academic experiences.
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