Exploring students’ use of ChatGPT as a personal assistant for writing and learning

This study explores how students at a business school in Switzerland are using ChatGPT as a personal assistant for writing and learning. Given concerns about academic integrity and the potential of AI to improve learning outcomes, students' self-organised use of AI in education remains under-researched (Nguyen et al., 2024). Using an online survey of 266 undergraduate students, this study explores the use of ChatGPT for both writing and learning tasks in academic studies. The results suggest that students rely primarily on ChatGPT for superficial support, such as spelling and grammar checking, rather than for high-level academic tasks requiring deep critical thinking and analysis. Cognitive tasks, such as summarising complex information, show higher usage than metacognitive tasks, such as self-assessment and study planning. A strong correlation (r = 0.7244) between the use of ChatGPT for writing and learning suggests consistent patterns in students' engagement with AI across tasks. The findings highlight the need for targeted guidance on the responsible use of AI in academic contexts, informing both educators and AI tool developers on how to better support student learning.