Exploring Greek Students’ Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence: Relationships with AI Ethics, Media, and Digital Literacy

This exploratory study (N = 310) investigates the relationship between students’ attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI), their attitudes toward AI ethics, and their media and digital literacy levels. This study’s specific objectives were to examine students’ (a) general attitudes toward AI, (b) attitudes toward AI ethics, (c) the relationship between the two, and (d) whether attitudes toward AI are associated with media and digital literacy. Participants, drawn from a convenience sample of university students, completed an online survey including four scales: (a) a general attitude toward AI scale (including two subscales, positive and negative attitudes), (b) an attitude toward AI ethics scale (including two subscales, attitudes toward accountable and non-accountable AI use), (c) a media literacy scale, and (d) a digital literacy scale, alongside demographic information. The findings revealed that students held moderate positive attitudes toward AI and strong attitudes favoring accountable AI use. Interestingly, media literacy was positively related to accountable AI use and negatively to positive attitudes toward AI, whereas digital literacy was positively related to positive attitudes, and negatively to negative attitudes toward AI. These findings carry significant theoretical implications by highlighting the unique relationship of distinct literacies (digital and media) with students’ attitudes. They also offer practical insights for educators, technology designers, and administrators, emphasizing the need to address ethical considerations in AI deployment.