Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Not A Writing Gods, So Why Do Post-Graduate Students Believe It?

Abstract

This study was aimed at understanding graduate students' preferences in applying AI when dealing with their class papers and projects in Indonesia. It also sought to understand how students who have used AI in previous writing feel about such experience. This study adopted a phenomenological research method in order to elicit in-depth insights into the concerns of the students. The participants included graduate students from four universities in Indonesia. These data were gathered using semi-structured interviews of 30 students who had experience using AI for their academic writing. Guided by understanding the decision-making process, perceived benefits, and drawbacks of AI, and overall experiences, interview questions were prepared. One-way thematic analysis was conducted with the interview data. Students seemed to view AI applications as only helping with formatting and editing tasks, as most of them would like to have the opportunity to do the major work by themselves for better learning. Another underlying strong theme emerging here is related to AI overdependency and unequal access to it. The results offer insights into the respective areas that can be used by educators and institutions to provide a balance between the rising AI in use and support for independent learning within academics.