Adoption of AI in Romanian PR and communication education: A TAM-informed survey study

This study examines Romanian communication and public relations (PR) students' familiarity with and attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI). We conducted a cross-sectional online survey from September to October 2023 and recruited participants through targeted Facebook advertisements. Starting from the untouched survey export, the primary sample comprised 207 respondents who affirmatively met both prespecified eligibility criteria: current university enrolment and a field related or tangential to communication/PR. No item-level values were imputed. Students reported moderate self-rated AI understanding (M = 2.72, SD = 1.30) and high self-assessed tech-savviness (M = 3.76, SD = 1.12). Opportunity orientation was positively associated with AI understanding (Spearman's rho = .323, p < .001), while AI understanding was also weakly associated with AI-related concerns (rho = .251, p < .001). In an ordinary least-squares model with HC3 robust standard errors (complete-case n = 202), tech-savviness independently predicted a more opportunity-oriented view (B = .179, beta = .248, p = .008), whereas AI understanding (B = .075, beta = .119, p = .253), prior AI-tool exposure, and academic year were not significant. A principal-axis factor analysis of five coherent AI familiarity/awareness items supported one factor by scree inspection and 5000-iteration parallel analysis (loadings .649 to .886; alpha = .891; omega = .897). The findings support hands-on, ethically grounded AI education while also showing that bivariate associations should not be interpreted as independent or causal effects.