Artificial intelligence in the L2 classroom: Implications and challenges on ethics and equity in higher education: A 21st century Pandora's box

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate attitudes of both students and teachers concerning Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the L2 classroom. The study was a descriptive, qualitative, mixedmethods case study whose data were taken from a purposive, convenient sample at a private, English-speaking university during the Summer Semester 2023 in Beirut, Lebanon. Data collection primarily involved an online survey on Google forms which was given to a sample of 49 students taking a research-based English 202 course of which 46 were completed. Afterwards, six English teachers and six students were chosen based on their voluntary will to participate in individual interviews for the former and semi-structured focus group interviews for the latter. The findings revealed that approximately 85% of students did indeed use AI unethically to get ideas for their assignments, assist them in their projects' “blue-prints” or do their assignments/projects altogether. The findings also revealed that a “love/hate” relationship seemed to dictate students' relationships with AI, where students did indeed make use of AI but were distrusting of it for privacy and equity concerns. Finally, findings also revealed that most of the interviewed instructors' readiness to undergo training for AI was more to monitor students' potential misuse of it. The article purposes a suggestive revamping of course learning objectives due to students' inclinations to misuse AI to do their coursework with 89.4% of students willing to use AI to complete their coursework should university punitive measures be removed; furthermore, the article equally proposes future research investigating the impact and use of AI in the higher educational classroom on student performance and that it be used with a “grain of salt” as it may unleash a Pandora's box of future generations graduating without the necessary know-how in delicate professions of medicine, nursing, engineering, architecture among others.