International Journal of
Information and Education Technology

Abstract

The world has evolved dramatically in the last several decades and continues to do so. ChatGPT has sparked intense speculation and interest among academic stakeholders about how this emerging technology will transform higher education. In particular, there is ambiguity among researchers and teaching professionals on how to deal with the integration of natural language processing models (e.g., ChatGPT) practically and ethically. The use of ChatGPT is an emerging area of interest that presently lacks the perspective of students on this new technology. Thus, an exploratory study design was applied as a methodological frame to investigate the problem empirically. Semi-structured interview data was gathered from current university students to thematically analyze the phenomenon. The thematic analysis revealed three themes: (1) support for autonomous learning, (2) digital and artificial tutoring, and (3) academic misconduct and ethical considerations. The article presents theoretical and managerial implications and advances the discussion about natural language processing models in higher education. Moreover, the study contributes to the body of knowledge by closing a theoretical gap in the literature on how university students utilize artificial chatbots for and during their studies.