Student knowledge and perceptions of AI usefulness: An exploratory study of Romanian students

Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving massive changes in education, with uses growing for educators and students. A significant portion of students embrace AI, but little is known about how narrow or wide-ranging their view of the benefits and disadvantages of AI is, especially in international settings. We report a survey of 91 Romanian computer science students, showing that knowledge of AI is associated with reporting the usefulness of AI. Those with higher AI knowledge were more likely to read books and papers on AI, report that AI will impact art, and actively seek information on AI. The most frequently mentioned source for learning about AI was the internet (81%), and the feeling about AI was mostly curious (68%). The most frequently cited advantage of AI was its ability to solve problems, and the most frequent disadvantage was the cost. Less than a third cited strong disadvantages of AI in education. These findings highlight student openness to using AI, especially as they know more about it. These findings also indicate that students may need coaching about the disadvantages of AI in educational settings.