Från betvivlat till “sin bästa, supersmarta polare” : en kvalitativ studie om förhållningssättet till ChatGPT ur universitetsstudenters perspektiv

Digitalization has led to the development and diffusion of the phenomenon of artificial intelligence in our everyday lives. When the AI tool ChatGPT was launched in the fall of 2022, it quickly made a significant breakthrough worldwide, thus also at Swedish universities. The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the attitudes regarding artificial intelligence in university studies. More specifically, the interest lies in exposing the change in attitude about the AI-tool ChatGPT. The study aims to understand students' attitudes towards the tool, which can be analyzed in terms of both discourses and socialization. Previous studies show that there are various discourses about artificial intelligence, that ChatGPT has both strengths and weaknesses, and that interactions and socialization play an important role in the university environment. The theoretical framework of the study is based on discourses and socialization, which serve as support in the analysis and conclusions. The study is qualitative and conducted through semi-structured interviews to highlight the informants' experiences. The results show that students talked about and used ChatGPT relatively little at first, and their attitude towards the tool was based on skepticism with many perceived risks. According to the informants, ChatGPT is used and talked about more today, and the attitude is positive, characterized by more perceived opportunities than risks. The opportunities seen with the tool concern its function as a study aid, while the risks are more related to its negative effects on independent thinking. The fact that students perceive more opportunities than risks today, compared to before, may also be understood as having an impact on the increased usage and the more positive attitude.