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Main Authors: Zheng, Jiayu, Hao, Lingxin, Lu, Kelun, Garg, Ashi, Reese, Mike, Yap, Melo-Jean, Wang, I-Jeng, Wu, Xingyun, Huang, Wenrui, Hoffman, Jenna, Kelly, Ariane, Le, My, Zhang, Ryan, Lin, Yanyu, Faayez, Muhammad, Liu, Anqi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20244
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author Zheng, Jiayu
Hao, Lingxin
Lu, Kelun
Garg, Ashi
Reese, Mike
Yap, Melo-Jean
Wang, I-Jeng
Wu, Xingyun
Huang, Wenrui
Hoffman, Jenna
Kelly, Ariane
Le, My
Zhang, Ryan
Lin, Yanyu
Faayez, Muhammad
Liu, Anqi
author_facet Zheng, Jiayu
Hao, Lingxin
Lu, Kelun
Garg, Ashi
Reese, Mike
Yap, Melo-Jean
Wang, I-Jeng
Wu, Xingyun
Huang, Wenrui
Hoffman, Jenna
Kelly, Ariane
Le, My
Zhang, Ryan
Lin, Yanyu
Faayez, Muhammad
Liu, Anqi
contents This study explores how college students interact with generative AI (ChatGPT-4) during educational quizzes, focusing on reliance and predictors of AI adoption. Conducted at the early stages of ChatGPT implementation, when students had limited familiarity with the tool, this field study analyzed 315 student-AI conversations during a brief, quiz-based scenario across various STEM courses. A novel four-stage reliance taxonomy was introduced to capture students' reliance patterns, distinguishing AI competence, relevance, adoption, and students' final answer correctness. Three findings emerged. First, students exhibited overall low reliance on AI and many of them could not effectively use AI for learning. Second, negative reliance patterns often persisted across interactions, highlighting students' difficulty in effectively shifting strategies after unsuccessful initial experiences. Third, certain behavioral metrics strongly predicted AI reliance, highlighting potential behavioral mechanisms to explain AI adoption. The study's findings underline critical implications for ethical AI integration in education and the broader field. It emphasizes the need for enhanced onboarding processes to improve student's familiarity and effective use of AI tools. Furthermore, AI interfaces should be designed with reliance-calibration mechanisms to enhance appropriate reliance. Ultimately, this research advances understanding of AI reliance dynamics, providing foundational insights for ethically sound and cognitively enriching AI practices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_20244
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Do Students Rely on AI? Analysis of Student-ChatGPT Conversations from a Field Study
Zheng, Jiayu
Hao, Lingxin
Lu, Kelun
Garg, Ashi
Reese, Mike
Yap, Melo-Jean
Wang, I-Jeng
Wu, Xingyun
Huang, Wenrui
Hoffman, Jenna
Kelly, Ariane
Le, My
Zhang, Ryan
Lin, Yanyu
Faayez, Muhammad
Liu, Anqi
Artificial Intelligence
This study explores how college students interact with generative AI (ChatGPT-4) during educational quizzes, focusing on reliance and predictors of AI adoption. Conducted at the early stages of ChatGPT implementation, when students had limited familiarity with the tool, this field study analyzed 315 student-AI conversations during a brief, quiz-based scenario across various STEM courses. A novel four-stage reliance taxonomy was introduced to capture students' reliance patterns, distinguishing AI competence, relevance, adoption, and students' final answer correctness. Three findings emerged. First, students exhibited overall low reliance on AI and many of them could not effectively use AI for learning. Second, negative reliance patterns often persisted across interactions, highlighting students' difficulty in effectively shifting strategies after unsuccessful initial experiences. Third, certain behavioral metrics strongly predicted AI reliance, highlighting potential behavioral mechanisms to explain AI adoption. The study's findings underline critical implications for ethical AI integration in education and the broader field. It emphasizes the need for enhanced onboarding processes to improve student's familiarity and effective use of AI tools. Furthermore, AI interfaces should be designed with reliance-calibration mechanisms to enhance appropriate reliance. Ultimately, this research advances understanding of AI reliance dynamics, providing foundational insights for ethically sound and cognitively enriching AI practices.
title Do Students Rely on AI? Analysis of Student-ChatGPT Conversations from a Field Study
topic Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20244