Artificial Intelligence in Sport: A Quantitative Survey among Sports Students in Germany about their Perceptions, Expectations, and Concerns regarding the Use of AI Tools (AIS)

Grunddaten zu diesem Projekt

Beschreibung

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini have a crucial impact on academic research, studies and teaching. However, empirical data on how students perceive the increasing influence of AI tools in academia, the specific types of tools they use, their expectations related to these tools in their daily academic tasks, and their concerns are still limited. The project “Artificial Intelligence in Sports” (AIS) aims to address this empirical gap through a quantitative study. The project explores aspects such as students’ usage behavior, motivational factors, and inquiries about uncertainties regarding the potential impact of AI tools on academia in the future. Furthermore, the social climate in sports studies is being investigated to provide a general overview of the current situation of the students in Germany. Data collection took place between August and November 2023, addressing all sports institutes at German universities, with a total of 262 students participating. Our empirical findings indicate students’ strong interest in using AI tools in their studies, expecting these tools to enhance their overall academic performance and save time. They express confidence that the proliferation of AI tools in academia will not compromise their critical thinking and endorse the integration of more AI-related topics into their curriculum as well as the introduction of teaching methods focusing on AI by their lecturers. However, our findings also show that students have concerns about their own skills, future skill development, plagiarism and lecturer preparedness. In light of our empirical findings, we propose that universities address this ambivalent situation by educating students on how to generate reliable information with AI and avoid misinformation. It is imperative that students possess both practical and critical knowledge of the use and impact of a new technology that is rapidly spreading in academia.