Students’ perspectives of the change from human led- to AI-led feedback – a review of Studiosity’s Writing Feedback and Writing Feedback plus services

Artificial intelligence (AI) and GAI (Generative AI) are changing the way assessment is approached and delivered in universities. The use of either technology raises questions of trust, authorship and pedagogy. This pilot study investigates students’ perceptions of a mid-year change from Studiosity’s human-led WF (Writing Feedback) to WF+ (Writing Feedback plus) which is an AI-led service. Utilising a mixed-methods approach 200 students were surveyed across three distinct groups: human only (WF), AI only (WF+) and a combined group (WF/WF+). The surveys explored students’ experiences, expectations and feedback preferences – investigating areas including feedback quality, applicability, utilisation and timing. Students present us with a clear distinction: AI presents significant utility for quantity and speed of feedback, but humans are preferred for their nuanced understanding of students’ writing. This specific tension indicates that institutions looking to perform a human to AI-led feedback delivery pivot should consider the role of both approaches. Humans are an essential part of the feedback loop, but the ability of AI to scale offers a useful opportunity to provide students with formative feedback. This study highlights the need for institutions to clearly explain the credibility and ability of AI feedback to build students’ trust, demonstrate compatibility with institutional guidelines and to support students’ success. The methodology and findings can be utilised by other practitioners to understand their own students’ perspectives and to gain insight into how a potential pivot to AI-led feedback can be delivered in practice.