Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Educational Environments: An Initial Student Perspective of the Risks and Advantages

Over the past few decades, immersive technologies have completely transformed the world around us. Recent trends show that the next digital transformation will directly impact the way people live, communicate, work, trade and learn and will be powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Generative artificial intelligence has had to face significant higher education challenges since its appearance, requiring the development of new and innovative teaching and learning practices. Nevertheless, the assimilation of such immersive technologies necessarily brings with it many challenges, advantages, and risks, which have led to differing opinions among educators, students, and academics. This paper provides a preliminary reflection on the risks and benefits that higher education students perceive in the formal use of this type of tool for academic purposes. An exit survey was used to verify the initial opinions of the students, obtaining almost 90 percent of positive perceptions, but only considering AI as a support tool. In contrast, a significant percentage mentioned that there could be some risks in using this technology: dependency on AI tools, loss of creativity and plagiarism according to institutional policies. Despite its innovative and significant importance, the students acknowledge that the tool is imperfect and accept several disadvantages, such as incorrect answers, poor quality references and the production of unsafe content, so its use must regulate and for now remain only as a complementary support tool.