What is the impact of GenAI use on teacher expertise and effectiveness? Empirical evidence from two European Universities

The adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) by university teachers has increased significantly in recent years. However, its impact within higher education institutions remains unclear. This study investigates how various uses of GenAI as an educational tool influence students’ perceptions of university teacher expertise and effectiveness, where effectiveness is assessed through teacher trustworthiness, teacher helpfulness, and teacher–student rapport. To increase the generalizability of the findings, data were collected from two European universities during January and February 2025. Results from the total sample reveal a negative and statistically significant impact of teacher use of GenAI on students’ perceptions of teacher expertise (β = -0.125). The findings further reveal no significant relationships between teacher adoption of GenAI and the three dimensions of teacher effectiveness (β = -0.013ns, β = 0.019ns, β = 0.049ns), with similar results obtained at both universities. In contrast, teacher clarity emerged as a key predictor of perceived teacher expertise (β = 0.691), which, in turn, had a strong and consistent positive impact on teacher trustworthiness (β = 0.722), teacher helpfulness (β = 0.698), and teacher–student rapport (β = 0.628) across both groups of students.