STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF GENERATIVE AI USAGE AND RISKS IN A FINNISH HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION
Maija Suonpää, Jutta Heikkilä, Ana Dimkar · INTED proceedings · 2024
The latest developments in modern technologies, in particular Generative AI (GenAI) have prompted a significant change in education.This trend of growing GenAI tools is expected to cause significant changes in the use of technological tools in higher education.Consequently, it will influence the skills of the students and their ability to adjust to these new trends.The aim of this study is to describe the perceptions of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students regarding their use of generative AI tools, the possible risks associated with the tools and the support they seek from their lecturers when using these tools.The data has been collected via two surveys during the autumn semester 2023.All students participating in this research are BBA students in a university of applied sciences in Finland.A vast majority of students have used GenAI in their studies.Some of the commonalities included asking clarifying questions on topics related to their studies or improving their own text.Furthermore, the study reveals that there are two primary categories of risks.The first category focuses on issues related to the answers generated by GenAI.These issues included outdated information, AI's ability to fabricate answers, and the potential risks of plagiarism.The second category centres on the risk of becoming dependent on AI.The students emphasized that GenAI undermined their creativity and imagination, while also reducing their critical thinking skills.Moreover, nearly half of the students reported to be unaware of the guidelines for reporting the use of GenAI.The students expected lecturers to inform them clearly of the permissibility of usage and guidance on how to refence its use.In conclusion, the results show that students are aware of the possibilities and the challenges related to the use of GenAI.Therefore, lecturers need to take an active role in instructing the appropriate use of GenAI and tailoring the course assignments and assessments to align with the challenges posed by the era of GenAI.