Student Perspectives on AI in HE: Authenticity, Ethics, and Educational Change

Description

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in higher education, concerns about authenticity, integrity, and student agency are intensifying. This pilot study investigates graduate students' perspectives on AI's role in academic work.

Grounded in the theoretical framework of student voice, which recognizes students as active contributors to educational development, the study explores how students engage with AI tools and perceive their impacts. A mixed-methods survey was administered to 12 graduate students at the University in Iceland, incorporating Likert-scale items and open-ended responses to capture both quantitative patterns and qualitative insights.

The research addressed six key questions: purposes for using AI, types of AI tools employed, attitudes toward AI, perceived impacts on academic development, ethical concerns, and beliefs about institutional support. Findings revealed varied levels of AI experience among students but a generally positive attitude toward its educational use. Students highlighted AI's benefits in saving time, generating ideas, structuring assignments, and enhancing critical thinking through reflection and synthesis. Common applications included explaining complex concepts, summarizing texts, and assisting in creative processes.
Despite positive attitudes, students expressed caution regarding data privacy, reliability of AI outputs, potential overreliance, and broader ethical implications. Concerns about academic integrity and the societal impact of AI technologies were also evident. Importantly, student feedback prompted refinement of the survey instrument, demonstrating the value of co-creating research tools that reflect students’ authentic voices.

The pilot further illustrated how AI can serve both as a research subject and a methodological aid, with generative AI tools used to enhance question clarity while emphasizing the necessity of maintaining human judgment in educational research.
Ultimately, the study shows that AI need not erode authenticity in education; instead, its integration must be critically and collaboratively shaped. Institutions are encouraged to develop transparent AI policies, promote ethical literacy, and support thoughtful pedagogical integration that centers human values. This work lays the foundation for a larger institutional study and offers a model for student-centered, ethically grounded innovation in the age of AI.

Period	18 Jun 2025
Event title	Erasmus+ Bib: Artificial Intelligence and Education: Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain
Event type	Course
Location	Tarragona, SpainShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International