What factors influence students’ decisions about whether they will continue to use ChatGPT for learning in the future? This was the question addressed by a new study from ELTE’s Faculty of Informatics, which used an interpretable machine learning framework to identify the factors that most strongly influence the use of generative artificial intelligence in higher education.
A study published in the Q1/D1-ranked journal Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence published by Elsevier, examined the factors that influence students’ intention to continue using ChatGPT for academic purposes in the future.
The research was conducted by Chaman Verma, a member of the Department of Media and Educational Informatics at the Faculty of Informatics, Eötvös Loránd University, as part of the University Excellence Scholarship Program (EKÖP-24).
What really matters when it comes to using ChatGPT?
The study analysed questionnaire responses from 166 university students. Using interpretable machine learning methods, the researcher examined which factors play a decisive role in students’ intention to continue using ChatGPT in their learning. The results show that key factors include learning support, accessibility, academic engagement, usability, and the perceived reliability of the tool. In other words, students are more likely to incorporate ChatGPT into their learning processes if they perceive it as genuinely useful—an instrument that helps them understand complex concepts, supports them in completing assignments, and contributes to more effective learning.
Beyond usefulness, trust is also key
At the same time, the research highlights that the accuracy of responses, the reliability of the tool, and academic integrity remain key issues in the use of generative artificial intelligence in higher education. Students’ attitudes towards ChatGPT are influenced not only by how effectively the tool can support their learning, but also by how reliable they perceive it to be and how they view the possibilities for using it responsibly in an academic environment.
The study contributes new findings to research on the use of artificial intelligence in education and offers useful, evidence-based insights for educators, higher education institutions, and policymakers. The findings may help ensure that generative artificial intelligence tools can responsibly, consciously, and effectively support teaching and learning in higher education in the future.