The role of generative AI in writing doctoral dissertation: perceived opportunities, challenges, and facilitating strategies to promote human agency

The arrival of Generative Artificial Intelligence (henceforth GenAI) has prompted the academic world to debate its benefits and risks for academic writing in ESL and EFL contexts. This study aims to explore the perceived usefulness and use of GenAI-assisted dissertation writing to engage in nuanced reasoning. Using non-probability sampling technique, we gathered qualitative data through a survey and test from 86 doctoral scholars and seven thesis supervisors in the social and human sciences disciplines. We conceptualized Technology Acceptance Model to promote human agency throughout the different stages of dissertation writing. The participants perceived that GenAI is helpful for improving writing mechanics, providing efficient feedback, augmenting thinking process, establishing argument structure, and facilitating data analysis. They acknowledged that the emergence of these opportunities also presented new challenges that clouded their reasoning abilities. Considerable data suggested that the participants of this study were influenced by technological singularity syndrome, believing GenAI could outperform them in academic writing. The study emphasizes the need for significant institutional investments in AI-integrated writing platforms to open, widen, and deepen discussion on dissertation writing – a strategy to strike a balance between GenAI and human interactions.