ATTITUDE AND DIGITAL COMPETENCE: A SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLORATION INTO FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' LIVED EXPERIENCE OF USING GENERATIVE AI

Abstract

This qualitative research paper investigates the experiences and negotiation of first-year university students in Pakistan on the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools to learn, with a specific emphasis on attitude and digital competence. Under the guidance of an interpretivist, phenomenological design and Theory of Practice (habitus, capital, field) by Bourdieu, semi-structured interviews with six first-year students with a variety of disciplinary, linguistic, and socio-economic backgrounds and reporting at least one tangible experience of using (or avoiding) the use of GenAI in their coursework were held. Reflexive thematic analysis reveals that students largely cast GenAI as an apolitical, in essence, private tutor that aids them in handling challenging ideas and academic English, and, at the same time, creates ethical barriers around authorship and originality. Lack of access to devices, connectivity and digital capabilities lead to varying levels of depth and sophistication of use, with highly digital-capital students utilizing GenAI to perform more nuanced tasks and lower-capital students stuck on simple explanations. Attitudes toward GenAI are ambivalent, combining feelings of empowerment and inclusion with anxiety about dependency, cultural bias, and erosion of critical thinking. In the context of unclear institutional policies, students rely on hidden, peer-led practices yet consistently call for structured, discipline-sensitive AI literacy and explicit guidance. The study argues that early, inclusive AI literacy interventions are essential to ensure that GenAI support rather than exacerbate existing inequalities in higher education.