INNOVATIVE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN A MATERIALS SCIENCE SUBJECT FOR ANALYZING RESULTS

Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining increasing interest over the years, and it is one of the most useful tools to be used in education, either in primary and secondary education or in university.AI is a very powerful tool to show students how to be more independent and make them main characters of their own learning.In this study, AI is used in a subject called Structures and Characterization Techniques from the masters' degree Engineering, Processing and Characterization of Materials from Universitat Politcnica de Valncia (UPV).The main aim of this study is using AI models, such as ChatGPT or DeepSeek to help students analyse results obtained in the aforementioned subject.In this subject, different polymeric materials are characterized and their properties are evaluated.However, some properties, such as chemical bonds present in those materials are normally quite difficult to evaluate and understand by students.These chemical bonds are characterized by Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), which gives a spectra with different peaks associated with the chemical interactions in the molecules of the analyzed materials.The students use AI models for assisting them in analyzing these FTIR spectra.Moreover, the analysis made by students is compared with a traditional FTIR analysis.Results show that, in general, the effectiveness of AI models is superior and easier for students to use.This is corroborated by surveys made to students at the end of the subject.