ChatGPT Use by Nursing Students and Their Readiness Levels for Artificial Intelligence: Current Situation Analysis

ABSTRACT Objective: To explore nursing students' usage patterns of ChatGPT and their preparedness for engaging with artificial intelligence technologies. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were collected between March and June 2023 from nursing students aged ≥18 years on social media (Instagram and Facebook) and WhatsApp student groups in Türkiye. A total of 346 nursing students who voluntarily agreed to participate in the research and filled out the online form constituted the study sample. Study data were collected online via a questionnaire that was created on Google Forms and consisted of a descriptive information form and the medical artificial intelligence readiness scale. While the form was designed, the confidentiality of the students’ data was considered. Independent samples t tests and one-way ANOVA were employed for data analysis. The statistical significance level was set at .05. Results: A total of 65% (n=225) of the nursing students had never heard about ChatGPT, 79.2% (n= 274) had not tried ChatGPT, and 90.2% (n=312) had not prepared homework, articles, papers, or translations using software containing artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT. The average scores obtained by the nursing students on the Medical Artificial Intelligence Readiness Scale were as follows: 73.09 ± 12.98 for the overall scale, 23.95 ± 5.27 for the cognition subscale, 28.4 ± 5.47 for ability, 10.07 ± 2.37 for vision, and 10.65 ± 2.11 for the ethics component. Conclusion: As the use of artificial intelligence software among nursing students was low, male students were more prone to use artificial intelligence than were female students, and most of the students thought that these software packages were ethical and usable. Future studies should determine the status of artificial intelligence use among nursing students and their readiness by employing different active teaching methods according to their school year.