OPPORTUNITIES AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF AI LEARNING TOOLS: PERCEPTIONS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the field of higher education is rapidly growing and is used to manage learning, research, and academic outcomes. In addition to these opportunities, students also faced with ethical, privacy, and fairness related issues. This paper focuses on the perceptions of the undergraduate students regarding the possibilities and challenges of the AI-driven learning tools in Pakistan, Punjab. The research design adopted was a quantitative descriptive study and 200 undergraduate students of various universities in Punjab participated in the study. A structured questionnaire that relied on a five-point Likert scale was taken in order to collect student’s opinions about the use of AI in education, ethical issues, critical thinking, transparency, and accessibility. The SPSS was used to analyze the collected data by use of descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. The results show that students have a generally positive attitude towards the use of AI tools which include personalized learning, effective teaching research, accessibility and academic achievement. Nonetheless, serious negotiations were also highlighted pertaining to privacy, biasness data, absence of transparency, excessive reliance on AI, as well as the significance of human control. The paper finds that despite the great educational potential of AI-based technologies among the students of the university in Punjab, ethical provisions, institutional support, and awareness of learners of its ethical usage are all that is needed to find a useful and responsible application of AI.