University Students’ Perceptions and Institutional Expectations Regarding Sustainable Artificial Intelligence Integration: A Qualitative Study

Carried out with 30 students enrolled in the Computer Technologies Department of a vocational school at a public university in Türkiye, this qualitative study examines university students’ perceptions and institutional expectations regarding the integration of sustainable artificial intelligence (AI) in universities. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The interview protocol was developed by the researchers and refined based on feedback from three field experts to ensure content validity. Before the main data collection, the interview form was reviewed and refined through an initial exploratory application with a small group of participants to assess the clarity and comprehensibility of the questions and to identify potential issues in the data collection process. The data analysis was conducted using qualitative content analysis supported by MAXQDA software. The findings indicate that students generally associate sustainable AI with energy efficiency, environmental responsibility, and ethical use of technology. Participants demonstrated awareness of large-scale AI systems’ environmental impacts. Although students viewed the development of environmentally friendly AI systems positively, they expressed concerns about ethical boundaries, excessive energy consumption, and the absence of clear regulatory frameworks. Overall, the findings suggest that structured content on the environmental, ethical, and social dimensions of AI should be integrated into vocational higher education curricula.