About two-thirds of WashU students who responded to a recent Student Life survey reported using AI chatbots like ChatGPT for academic tasks during their time in college. Yet, roughly the same share also believed that students nationwide would learn more if such tools were unavailable to them.

The use of chatbots among university students has risen rapidly in recent years, with 90% of college students across the country reporting that they have used AI for academic purposes. Universities and professors nationwide are still grappling with how best to respond to this growing trend. 

Students, too, are weighing what role chatbots should play in their education. Several WashU students who completed Student Life’s survey said they dislike how dependent they’ve become on the tools.

“I wish I didn’t have to use them, but I feel like it’s almost impossible not to,” one student wrote. “I wish I could go back to before ChatGPT.”

The Student Life survey on chatbot use was sent out to the WashU community in early October to gather information on students’ habits and opinions on the use of these tools for academic work. The survey received responses from 138 current students — 96% of whom were undergraduates — detailing how often they use chatbots, the types of assignments they used it for, and their thoughts on whether the tools have helped their learning. 

The majority of student respondents, 63%, were enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences, and the second-largest portion of respondents, at 23%, were in the McKelvey School of Engineering. 

Usage overview

The largest share of respondents who use chatbots — roughly 40% — said they use the tools a few times a week for academic purposes, while about 15% reported using them a few times a day. Most students said they first began using chatbots for academic tasks in 2023 or 2024, and roughly a quarter of chatbot users said they have one or more paid subscriptions to them. 

Graph by Sara Strassberg.

Nearly half of chatbot users said they most often use the tools to help explain academic topics and concepts. Many also reported using them to check homework answers, summarize readings, and revise their written work.

About 27% of chatbot users said they have used generative AI to answer quiz or exam questions administered through Canvas, though only 5% reported doing so frequently.

Graph by Sara Strassberg.

Impacts on learning

About 46% of chatbot users overall said they believe the tools have benefited their learning, while 32% were unsure, and 21% said they have not benefited their learning. 

Respondents’ perspectives on whether chatbots supported or hindered their learning appeared to depend, at least in part, on the type of course in which students used them. Students in humanities-focused classes often expressed concern that reliance on chatbots significantly hindered their learning, while those in STEM courses were more likely to view chatbots positively. 

Many students, especially those in STEM classes, said that chatbots have helped them understand challenging material by providing a low-pressure way to ask questions and delve into difficult concepts. 

“People generally have an intrinsic fear whenever they want to ask a question in class,” one student wrote. “Therefore, questions are either few or very short and direct. AI allows you to ask as much as you want and get relatively deep responses. That unavoidably leads to better comprehension.” 

Another respondent wrote that AI is better at explaining topics than many professors, and several students said that being able to turn to AI for clarification on challenging topics has saved them time and allowed them to spend less time going to office hours. 

“I can ask chatbots to create metaphors or practice problems to support my learning, and I can have them rephrase explanations in different ways — without worrying about being judged or taking up an instructor’s time,” one survey respondent wrote.

Students were divided on whether chatbots have hindered their learning overall: about one-third said they have, one-third said they have not, and one-third were unsure.

However, when asked whether students nationwide would learn more or less without access to chatbots, nearly 54% of chatbot users and 80% of non-users said students would learn more if the tools were not available to them for use. 

Graph by Sara Strassberg.

One student expressed concern that they have become overly reliant on AI for coding assignments. They said that before using chatbots, they struggled through several coding classes but learned a lot in the process. Since then, they feel their learning has been “fairly flat.”

“I’ve felt more comfortable deprioritizing projects because I know I can just rely on AI to do the heavy lifting if necessary,” the student wrote. “I can’t do some basic error comprehension because I just tell AI to interpret it — and that’s helpful for sure! But I feel that a basic knowledge base is necessary before being able to use AI.” 

Manel Errando, an associate professor of physics, told Student Life that if chatbots are able to complete students’ assignments perfectly, at least in physics, it may indicate that professors are not giving students the “right” kinds of assignments. 

“I think a little bit of the responsibility is on our side,” Errando said. “We want to be designing class exercises that really make you think, and where you can use chatbots [if] you want help, but eventually, you will have to engage with the material that we’ve given you and give a response.”

About 70% of survey respondents who use chatbots said that they believe the tools have helped them get better grades. 

One student wrote that they believe they would receive the same grades with or without chatbots, but completing the work would take much more time without them, which they said would negatively affect their mental health.

Non-user perspectives

About 35% of survey respondents said they have not used chatbots to assist them with academic tasks. Many of these students appeared firm in their choice not to use chatbots, and a few voiced frustration and concern over how frequently some of their peers rely on them.

David Schuman, the director of Creative Writing at WashU, told Student Life that he appreciated that many students have decided not to use chatbots for academic work. 

“I found it refreshing that it seems like there’s some resistance, and I think students acknowledging that AI is a useful tool is just obvious,” Schuman said. “But I think there’s still some agreement, it seemed in the numbers, that students want to learn and don’t want AI to take away their curiosity.”

Several student survey respondents said they don’t want to use chatbots because they prefer to think through the material themselves and develop their own understanding. Others cited mistrust in the accuracy of chatbot responses, along with concerns about the environmental impact of generative AI technologies. 

“I am a humanities major. Almost all my work is based on writing. Not only would my work be almost instantly flagged, but it would also ruin the entire point of my degree. It’s also just simply not that hard to write an essay. We go to f*cking WashU. It’s REALLY embarrassing if you can’t,” one student wrote.  

The majority of respondents who don’t use chatbots said that they have not felt significant pressure from peers to use chatbots, nor have they felt pressure to use chatbots in order to get good grades or keep up with their peers in the classroom. 

Future considerations

One student said that many of their peers do not understand generative AI well enough to use it effectively — often turning to it to bypass work rather than as a learning tool. The student stressed that colleges should take a more active role in teaching students how to use generative AI tools responsibly and ethically. 

However, they believe that outright banning chatbots would be “misguided,” as the technology is not going away anytime soon. 

“GenAI is not true artificial intelligence and cannot replace human thinking, despite whatever casual news anchors think. We are not in the midst of ‘Terminators,’” the student wrote.  

Anna Cunningham, Assistant Director of Teaching Innovation at the Center for Teaching & Learning, also emphasized the importance of AI literacy in an interview with Student Life. She said that it is OK whether students choose to use or not to use AI, as long as they are making an informed and well-researched decision.

Cunningham stressed that all students — whether they choose to use chatbots or not —should understand how and why the tools are used, as the technology’s influence is growing across industries and throughout society.

Errando wrote to Student Life that chatbots may require professors to reconsider some assignments or assessment methods, but he does not believe these tools will reshape students’ education as dramatically as some predict.

“When the chalkboard, the pocket calculator, or access to the internet became available, people thought that students would pay less attention and [that it would] weaken their core intellectual skills,” he wrote. “In the long run, all these tools have shifted the focus of the learning experience from memorization and repetition to higher-order, more conceptual thinking.”

Editor’s Note: The article was updated on Nov. 1 at 6:10 p.m. to include graphs on student chatbot use and additional information on survey respondents’ beliefs regarding whether students nationwide would learn more or less if chatbots were unavailable to them for use.