AI Use Surges Among College Students Despite Campus Backlash
A new survey reveals a significant increase in college students regularly using artificial intelligence for academic purposes, even as some commencement speakers face student disapproval.
The regular use of artificial intelligence among business school students has dramatically increased over the last three years, according to a recent survey. This surge in AI adoption by students coincides with instances of student disapproval towards AI-focused speakers at graduation ceremonies, highlighting broader anxieties about the technology.
The survey, conducted between 2024 and 2026 by American University’s Kogod School of Business, found that the percentage of business students routinely incorporating AI into their academic work rose from 6% to 29%. Overall, more than 80% of college students reported using AI for academic purposes in the past six months, with nearly one-third using it 11 or more times weekly for school or work-related tasks.
Students primarily utilize AI for brainstorming ideas, with approximately three-quarters of those surveyed using it for this purpose. Over half reported using AI to find information sources, and 62% employed it as a summarization tool. Among specific AI tools, nearly 90% of students used Perplexity, 79% preferred ChatGPT, and 39% cited Anthropic’s Claude.
This trend in academic use mirrors growing employer demand for AI skills. The proportion of job interviews including AI-related questions has climbed from 12% to 43% over the same three-year period, despite some academic institutions implementing outright bans on AI in coursework.
Casey Evans, interim dean at Kogod, indicated that the school has not observed significant resistance to AI, emphasizing that students are not forced to use it without guidance. Similar findings emerged from other research, including an Inside Higher Ed flash survey of 1,038 students, where 85% reported using AI for coursework in the past year. A Gallup poll from April indicated that 57% of U.S. college students use AI at least weekly, with 20% using it daily.
Despite the widespread adoption, students express apprehension. The Inside Higher Ed survey revealed that 40% of students are concerned AI hinders independent thinking, while more than half of Kogod students voiced concerns about academic honesty related to AI use. This concern has manifested publicly, with instances such as a real estate executive facing boos and mockery during a commencement address at the University of Central Florida for praising artificial intelligence as the "next Industrial Revolution."