UCA business majors Robert Walker and Dami Osundolire will present their research papers from separate AI studies at the Decision Science Institute conference in Orlando.
The studies focus on UCA students’ attitudes and behaviors towards AI – broken down further into the rates of AI usage among certain demographics.
“We see that freshmen in the survey reported they use AI more often than the other [classes],” Walker said. “The further you get in education, the less usage is reported.”
Additionally, the study looked into which colleges use AI the most – with Natural Sciences and Math being the highest at 55% and Health and Behavioral Sciences being the lowest at 38%.
Walker and Osundolire attributed Natural Sciences and Math being the highest to computer science majors and how AI is implemented in assignments.
“The computer science department was quicker to pick up AI than any other department,” Osundloire said.
Additionally, the most popular AI program was ChatGPT, with Gemini in second.
Dr. Alexander Chen, who oversaw both studies, theorized Gemini usage among students will increase after UCA signed a contract with Google.
“Gemini – it’s free. So all students have Gemini Pro,” Chen said.
Chen said because of the new agreement between the university and Google, students can now use their UCA accounts to log into Gemini and access its Pro features.
“It’s a big advantage to UCA students because they don’t have a lot of restrictions and limitations,” Chen said.
Chen and Walker both said due to AI’s slow integration in the classroom, it’s important for the university to have a defined policy for how AI is to be used.
“As long as on both ends – on the staff and faculty and on the student side – we understand fully how it can be used within the university’s construct of using with the right integrity,” Walker said.
“All of the good schools, MIT, Harvard, they already have an established AI policy,” Chen said. “We are a little bit slower, but I think eventually we should have a good policy as well.”
Chen is an advocate for AI as a tool to enhance a student’s ability to be creative and critically think.
“The most difficult thing is getting started,” Chen said. “AI can get you started, then the snowball process begins a lot faster.”
“In my classes, I ask a question and no one answers – I say ‘Folks, get your cell phone out and give me a couple of ideas,’” Chen said. “People argue ‘Oh, people don’t think anymore because AI gives you the answer’ – no, it gets you started.”
For Osundolire, an honors student, AI serves as a tool to help interpret higher level or challenging readings.
“We do some Plato readings, along with some really old readings, and they’re confusing,” Osundolire said. “It’s hard to start critically thinking when you don’t even understand what you’re reading or what the basis is. So sometimes, when I genuinely don’t understand what I’m reading – I’ll ask ChatGPT to explain what the text is about.”
“I think it’s important for people to understand [AI] as a tool, that if used properly, can make you more effective,” Walker said. “It’s as important as any other tool out there – if you don’t know how to use it, you’re behind.”
Though this will be the first time either student has presented as a conference – both are excited about the opportunity.
Chen said the study represents an opportunity to further expand research projects within the College of Business.
“We just want to encourage students to have more engagement and academic research,” Chen said. “To sit down with a professor, graduate student or doctoral student and really enhance their horizon.”
