Universities should consider funding subscriptions so students have equal access to the best generative artificial intelligence tools, amid signs of an “emerging digital divide” that has seen those from privileged backgrounds adopt the latest technologies more quickly, a report says.
Polling of 1,250 UK undergraduate students published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) on 1 February finds that more than half (53 per cent) of them are already using tools such as ChatGPT to help with their assessments.
Uptake has been higher among those from more privileged backgrounds, with 58 per cent saying they use it, compared with 51 per cent of those from the least privileged backgrounds.
Despite the high usage of the tools, only a fraction (13 per cent) of the students say they have used AI to generate text for an assessment, and a smaller proportion (5 per cent) say they have then submitted this text without editing it.