They Think They Use AI: Assessing the Relations Between Attitudes Toward AI and AI Proficiency Among University Students

As AI becomes an integral part of education and the future job market, understanding how students perceive and use it is more important than ever. This study explores Russian university students' attitudes toward AI and examines the relationship between their attitudes and their actual skill to use AI effectively. To assess students' AI perceptions, researchers used a questionnaire covering four key factors: interest in AI, perceived AI experience, AI's value for the future, and AI-related risks. AI proficiency was measured through a practical test in which students had to create an effective prompt for a large language model. The results revealed that many students actually struggled with prompting. Those who had more perceived experience with AI performed slightly better (r = 0.20), as did students who showed a stronger interest in AI (r = 0.12). However, the overall connection between AI attitudes and actual proficiency was weak. Notably, students who viewed AI as a risk were less likely to see it as valuable for the future (r = −0.09), but this did not significantly impact their interest in AI or their perceived experience with it. Ultimately, while students express a high level of interest in AI, their ability to use it effectively remains limited.