ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ADOPTION IN HIGHER EDUCATION OF PAKISTAN: AWARENESS, PERCEPTIONS, USE, AND CHALLENGES AMONG UNIVERSITY TEACHERS IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education, focusing on the awareness, perceptions, use, and challenges among university teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This study applied survey research design and quantitative research approach, using questionnaire as a tool. The data were collected from university teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). The questionnaire was emailed to faculty members across all universities of KPK and used convenient sample techniques. Descriptive statistics techniques and SPSS tools were used for data analysis. The findings reveal that most of the respondents were moderately familiar with AI technologies and very lest (4.3%) were extremely familiar. Majority of university teachers generally perceived that application of AI technologies have positively impact on education and beneficial for teachers and students. ChatGPT is the most widely used AI tool, with 79.7%, while other AI tools such as Chatbots, Pi, plagiarism detection software, adaptive learning platforms, Gemini , DeepSeek, and  AI-powered grading systems were minimally adopted. In addition, applications of AI technologies enhance access to resources; improve personalized learning, and efficiency in grading.  As for as challenges are concerned, respondents’ perceived that lack of AI training was the high challenge and ethical concerns, reliability issues, and resistance to change were the least one. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, institutions, and educators aiming to modernize educational practices.