Students love ChatGPT! A recent study conducted by students from Harvard University shows the extent to which these AI tools are embedded in students’ routines, revealing a shift in how education is approached.
Highlights:
- 87.5% of the students at Harvard University responded that they use Generative AI at least once weekly.
- Most of them use these chatbots, especially ChatGPT to ask general questions or for writing assignments.
- For some students, AI is already replacing Google or Wikipedia.
Harvard Students Love ChatGPT
The Harvard Undergraduate Association published a report titled “Harvard Undergraduate Survey on Generative AI” in July of 2024. This report sheds light on how generative AI has impacted the experience of college students. As a part of the survey, they interviewed around 326 Harvard undergraduates on their views on generative AI.
Around 87.5% of the students at Harvard University responded using Generative AI tools and most reported using them at least once every week. Almost half of them use them once every other day.
The majority of the students have replied that they use LLMs to get answers to general queries like “How does a 401k work?”. Writing assignments and writing emails come with second and third purposes of usage respectively. Some are even using it for entertainment.
However, what felt more shocking was the attraction of students towards ChatGPT. More than 95% of the AI users among Harvard University’s students use ChatGPT and less than 20% of them reported using Claude and Github Copilot.
No wonder many students now call OpenAI’s chatbot product to be their “best friend”. Nearly a third of these AI users are also spending money on these AI products. And if ChatGPT is popular, then most of these money might be going to ChatGPT Plus Subscription.
This shows why OpenAI has been hesitating to release its new AI detection tool. They might not want these customers to go away.
Reading that the primary purpose of using AI for general queries might be a bit of concern to the major search engines like Google and Bing.
Moving back to students, Some students are going to less number of class lectures themselves now compared to before because of AI. This might be a big concern for universities all around the globe. And while we can not say that AI is giving “better education or knowledge”, some think it is creating an unfair advantage for students using AI to help.
They also reported that they changed the way they think about their future careers due to the growing capabilities of Generative AI. Look at this word cloud of the responses when they were asked: “What are your biggest concerns about generative AI in the future?”.
Some of the notable mentions are “replace”, “worried”, “concerned” and “replace”
The job market is relatively bad right now which might have further prompted these students to agree to the fact that their career plans may be negatively affected by generative AI. Most of the students who agreed to the previous question are from the fields of technology, education and consulting. A recent Stack Overflow Survey also had similar findings.
Generative AI has had tremendous growth in the past few years so it is no wonder many students responded they have been surprised by how good AI has become. This further shows how important it is for universities to educate students on the effects of AI so that they don’t feel negatively impacted by it.
Conclusion
The Harvard report presents a complex picture of students’ reliance on AI tech like ChatGPT, outlining both the benefits and potential drawbacks. The findings highlight the critical need for educational institutions to address these issues by including AI literacy in their curriculum.
