Perceptions of Senior Pharmacy Students Towards the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on University Education and Scientific Writing: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: The roles of AI in the academic community continue to grow, especially in the enhancement of learning outcomes and the improvement of writing quality and efficiency. Objectives: To explore in depth the experience of senior pharmacy students in using artificial intelligence for academic purposes. Methods: This qualitative study included face-to-face individual interviews with senior pharmacy students from March to May 2023 using a pre-planned interview guide of open-ended questions. All interviews were audio-recorded. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The results were obtained from 15 in-depth face-to-face interviews with senior pharmacy students (5th and 4th years). Eight participants were male, and seven were female (21–25 years old). All participants used ChatGPT for a few months for academic purposes, especially when writing take-home assignments. The perceptions were positive about the students’ gains from using ChatGPT. Still, at the same time, they admitted that AI might negatively impact the student’s motivation to learn new academic skills. Conclusions: The students believed that AI was very helpful, with concerns that it did not enhance their critical thinking or writing skills. Thus, educators need to change their strategies for teaching and testing students to improve student skills and identify students’ own work.