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Main Authors: Hou, Irene, Man, Owen, Hamilton, Kate, Muthusekaran, Srishty, Johnykutty, Jeffin, Zadeh, Leili, MacNeil, Stephen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.09779
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author Hou, Irene
Man, Owen
Hamilton, Kate
Muthusekaran, Srishty
Johnykutty, Jeffin
Zadeh, Leili
MacNeil, Stephen
author_facet Hou, Irene
Man, Owen
Hamilton, Kate
Muthusekaran, Srishty
Johnykutty, Jeffin
Zadeh, Leili
MacNeil, Stephen
contents The widespread adoption of generative AI is already impacting learning and help-seeking. While the benefits of generative AI are well-understood, recent studies have also raised concerns about increased potential for cheating and negative impacts on students' metacognition and critical thinking. However, the potential impacts on social interactions, peer learning, and classroom dynamics are not yet well understood. To investigate these aspects, we conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with undergraduate computing students across seven R1 universities in North America. Our findings suggest that help-seeking requests are now often mediated by generative AI. For example, students often redirected questions from their peers to generative AI instead of providing assistance themselves, undermining peer interaction. Students also reported feeling increasingly isolated and demotivated as the social support systems they rely on begin to break down. These findings are concerning given the important role that social interactions play in students' learning and sense of belonging.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_09779
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle "All Roads Lead to ChatGPT": How Generative AI is Eroding Social Interactions and Student Learning Communities
Hou, Irene
Man, Owen
Hamilton, Kate
Muthusekaran, Srishty
Johnykutty, Jeffin
Zadeh, Leili
MacNeil, Stephen
Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interaction
The widespread adoption of generative AI is already impacting learning and help-seeking. While the benefits of generative AI are well-understood, recent studies have also raised concerns about increased potential for cheating and negative impacts on students' metacognition and critical thinking. However, the potential impacts on social interactions, peer learning, and classroom dynamics are not yet well understood. To investigate these aspects, we conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with undergraduate computing students across seven R1 universities in North America. Our findings suggest that help-seeking requests are now often mediated by generative AI. For example, students often redirected questions from their peers to generative AI instead of providing assistance themselves, undermining peer interaction. Students also reported feeling increasingly isolated and demotivated as the social support systems they rely on begin to break down. These findings are concerning given the important role that social interactions play in students' learning and sense of belonging.
title "All Roads Lead to ChatGPT": How Generative AI is Eroding Social Interactions and Student Learning Communities
topic Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.09779