Assessing AI Adoption: Investigating Variances in AI Utilization across Student Year Levels in Far Eastern University-Manila, Philippines

Abstract

This study investigates the prevalent use of artificial intelligence (AI) among college students at Far Eastern University. Despite the risks, it aims to understand the primary reason behind the continuous use of AI. According to academics, the benefits of implementing AI in higher education include better inclusion, increased efficiency in administrative costs, and improvements in the learning-teaching process (Pisica et al., 2023). However, the extreme utilization of AI among students has led to cheating and plagiarism for many reasons that impact their personal lives and mental health. The researcher identified potential gaps while assessing possible solutions to lessen the student using Artificial Intelligence (AI) excessively. Moreover, the researcher used a quantitative method analysis involving 40 college students from 1st-year level to 4th-year level to explore the impacts of Artificial Intelligence on their academic tasks and learning styles. Thus, examining the utilization of AI from different year levels of Far Eastern University college students revealed that the researcher provides valuable insights into addressing the challenges posed by excessive dependency on AI while maintaining academic integrity and the need for the students to develop their critical thinking skills. After the researcher analyzed the collected data, it showed that the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for academic workloads varies among participants covering different college students, showing that first-year students rely on AI due to peer pressure. In contrast, the second-year students use it to improve their academic standing. Third-year students depend on AI because of time constraints, while fourth-year students use AI to minimize the possibility of human errors. The study conveys no significant differences in the probability of using AI for academic purposes, and it does not prevent the students from using AI regardless of their year level. Therefore, the researcher recommends proposing stricter AI checkers and educating the students on responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage to mitigate academic misconduct.