ChatGPT at University: The Definitive Transition from Adoption to Quality of Student Interaction

Research on ChatGPT GPT-4 and GPT-5 in higher education has focused on quantitative adoption models (intention to use and predictors) and fragmented effects (writing, performance, well-being, dependence, or ethics). However, this approach keeps the debate stuck in an outdated phase of debate about the tool’s acceptance, even though ChatGPT is part of the academic ecosystem. The objective of the study is to understand, from students’ voices, how the quality of academic interaction with ChatGPT is configured, and to identify patterns of decision-making, validation, ethical regulation, and communication (transparency/concealment) in university contexts. An interpretive qualitative approach was followed. A total of 418 university students participated, all of whom provided qualitative data through semi-structured virtual interviews. The data were analyzed using reflective thematic analysis in six phases, with the support of ATLAS.ti software for rooting and density calculations. The results revealed ten categories that structure the phenomenon (adoption, attitudes, writing, translation, performance, cross-cutting skills, integrity, well-being, disciplinary use, and institutional integration). A continuum was observed between high-quality interaction (verification, rewriting, appropriation, and responsible authorship) and low-quality interaction (cognitive delegation, overconfidence, dependence, and concealment). The quality of student interaction with ChatGPT requires critical, ethical, and institutional regulation to guide and legitimize the academic process.