Students' reflections on their experience with ChatGPT

Abstract Background The emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence has brought a number of ethical and practical issues to higher education. Solid experimental evidence is yet inadequate to set the functional rules for the new technology. Objectives The objective of this study is to analyse the experience of undergraduate students’ interaction with ChatGPT and contribute to identifying the problems arising from the widespread use of artificial intelligence. Methods Junior university students ( N = 25) were assigned the task of working on their seminar essays with the aid of ChatGPT. Most students were novices with this tool (the study was conducted in the spring of 2023). Their essays were analysed qualitatively, according to the principles of the general inductive approach. Results and Conclusions The initial attitudes towards artificial intelligence were almost equally distributed from enthusiastic to indifferent and cautious, with one student refusing to interact with the chatbot on ideological grounds. After the first experience, most of the students declared themselves adopters of the new technology. We have found some evidence for enhancing critical thinking competence when using ChatGPT, as well as examples of unquestioned reliance on its outputs. The tendency to personification of the chatbot was apparent in the students' essays. Implications The findings show how easily the students embrace artificial intelligence and suggest a failure of any attempts for its strict regulation. This, on the other hand, underlines the need for emphasis on personal and research‐oriented approaches in teaching and learning.