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Higher education students' perceptions of ChatGPT: A global study of early reactions

Ravšelj D 1 , Keržič D 1 , Tomaževič N 1 , Umek L 1 , Brezovar N 1 , A Iahad N 2 Show all authors , Abdulla AA 3 , Akopyan A 4 , Aldana Segura MW 5 , AlHumaid J 6 , Allam MF 7 , Alló M 8 , Andoh RPK 9 , Andronic O 10 , Arthur YD 11 , Aydın F 12 , Badran A 13 , Balbontín-Alvarado R 14 , Ben Saad H 15 , Bencsik A 16 , Benning I 17 , Besimi A 18 , Bezerra DDS 19 , Buizza C 20 , Burro R 21 , Bwalya A 22 , Cachero C 23 , Castillo-Briceno P 24 , Castro H 25 , Chai CS 26 , Charalambous C 27 , Chiu TKF 28 , Clipa O 29 , Colombari R 30 , Corral Escobedo LJH 31 , Costa E 32 , Crețulescu RG 33 , Crispino M 34 , Cucari N 35 , Dalton F 36 , Demir Kaya M 37 , Dumić-Čule I 38 , Dwidienawati D 39 , Ebardo R 40 , Egbenya DL 41 , Faris ME 42 , Fečko M 43 , Ferrinho P 44 , Florea A 33 , Fong CY 45 , Francis Z 36 , Ghilardi A 20 , González-Fernández B 46 , Hau D 47 , Hossain MS 48 , Hug T 49 , Inasius F 50 , Ismail MJ 51 , Jahić H 52 , Jessa MO 53 , Kapanadze M 54 , Kar SK 55 , Kateeb ET 56 , Kaya F 37 , Khadri HO 57 , Kikuchi M 58 , Kobets VM 59 , Kostova KM 60 , Krasmane E 61 , Lau J 62 , Law WHC 45 , Lazăr F 63 , Lazović-Pita L 52 , Lee VWY 64 , Li J 65 , López-Aguilar DV 66 , Luca A 67 , Luciano RG 68 , Machin-Mastromatteo JD 69 , Madi M 6 , Manguele AL 70 , Manrique RF 25 , Mapulanga T 71 , Marimon F 30 , Marinova GI 60 , Mas-Machuca M 30 , Mejía-Rodríguez O 72 , Meletiou-Mavrotheris M 27 , Méndez-Prado SM 73 , Meza-Cano JM 74 , Mirķe E 75 , Mishra A 76 , Mital O 43 , Mollica C 77 , Morariu DI 33 , Mospan N 78 , Mukuka A 79 , Navarro Jiménez SG 31 , Nikaj I 80 , Nisheva MM 81 , Nisiforou E 82 , Njiku J 83 , Nomnian S 84 , Nuredini-Mehmedi L 85 , Nyamekye E 86 , Obadić A 87 , Okela AH 88 , Olenik-Shemesh D 89 , Ostoj I 90 , Peralta-Rizzo KJ 73 , Peštek A 52 , Pilav-Velić A 52 , Pires DRM 91 , Rabin E 89 , Raccanello D 21 , Ramie A 92 , Rashid MMU 93 , Reuter RAP 47 , Reyes V 94 , Rodrigues AS 95 , Rodway P 96 , Ručinská S 43 , Sadzaglishvili S 97 , Salem AAMS 98 , Savić G 99 , Schepman A 96 , Shahpo SM 100 , Snouber A 101 , Soler E 30 , Sonyel B 102 , Stefanova E 81 , Stone A 103 , Strzelecki A 104 , Tanaka T 105 , Tapia Cortes C 106 , Teira-Fachado A 8 , Tilga H 107 , Titko J 108 , Tolmach M 109 , Turmudi D 110 , Varela-Candamio L 8 , Vekiri I 27 , Vicentini G 21 , Woyo E 111 , Yorulmaz Ö 112 , Yunus SAS 51 , Zamfir AM 113 , Zhou M 114 , Aristovnik A 1

Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 2 Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Computer Science and IT, State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), Zanzibar, Tanzania
  • 4 Department of English for the Humanities, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia
  • 5 Education Department, Galileo University, Guatemala, Guatemala
  • 6 Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
  • 7 Department of Family Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
  • 8 Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of A Coruna, A Coruna, Spain
  • 9 Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
  • 10 Innovation and eHealth Center, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
  • 11 Department of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Mathematics Education, Akenten Appiah Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Kumasi, Ghana
  • 12 Faculty of Education, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Türkiye
  • 13 Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
  • 14 Faculty of Education and Humanities, University of Bío Bío, Chillán, Chile
  • 15 Research Laboratory LR12SP09 "Heart Failure", Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia
  • 16 Department of Management, University of Pannonia, Veszprem, Hungary
  • 17 Department of Mathematics & ICT Education, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
  • 18 Faculty of Contemporary Sciences and Technologies, South East European University, Tetovo, Republic of North Macedonia
  • 19 Department of Oceanography and Limnology. Federal University of Maranhão, São Luis, Brazil
  • 20 Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
  • 21 Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
  • 22 Department of Biological Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University, Kitwe, Zambia
  • 23 Languages and Computer Systems, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain
  • 24 EBIOAC Lab, Faculty of Life Sciences and Technologies, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabi ULEAM, Manta, Ecuador
  • 25 Department of Systems and Computing Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia
  • 26 Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
  • 27 Department of Education, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 28 Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
  • 29 Science of Education, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Suceava, Romania
  • 30 Department of Economics and Social Sciences, International University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
  • 31 IAM, Physics Department, CUCEI, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
  • 32 Competence Center on Active and Healthy Ageing and CINTESIS@Rise, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
  • 33 Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romania
  • 34 Independent Researcher, Rome, Italy
  • 35 Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • 36 Department of Psychology, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, Canada
  • 37 Faculty of Letters, University of Ataturk, Erzurum, Turkiye
  • 38 Department of Nursing, University North, Varaždin, Croatia
  • 39 BINUS Business School, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 40 Department of Information Technology, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
  • 41 College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
  • 42 Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Applied Sciences Private University, Jordan, Jordan
  • 43 Faculty of Public Administration, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Košice, Slovakia
  • 44 Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), Associate Laboratory in Translation and Innovation Towards Global Health (LA-REAL), Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Nova University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 45 International College of Liberal Arts, Yamanashi Gakuin University, Kofu, Japan
  • 46 Department of Sciences and Engineering, Ibero-American University Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
  • 47 Department of Education and Social Work, University of Luxembourg, Belval Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
  • 48 Department of Marketing, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh
  • 49 Department of Media, Society and Communication, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
  • 50 School of Accounting, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 51 School of Education, State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), Zanzibar, Tanzania
  • 52 School of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • 53 Guidance and Counselling, Delta State University Abraka, Abraka, Nigeria
  • 54 School of Business Technology and Education, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • 55 Department of Psychiatry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India
  • 56 Oral Health Research and Promotion Unit, Al-Quds University. Jerusalem, Palestine
  • 57 Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
  • 58 Department of Public Management. Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan
  • 59 Computer Science and Software Engineering Department, Kherson State University, Kherson, Ukraine
  • 60 Department of Technologies and Management of Communication Systems, Faculty of Telecommunications, Technical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 61 Department of Education, Alberta College, Riga, Latvia
  • 62 Faculty of Pedagogy, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, Mexico
  • 63 Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
  • 64 Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research (CLEAR), Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
  • 65 School of Foreign Languages, Jiaying University, Meizhou, China
  • 66 Languages Department, Indoamerica Technological University, Ambato, Ecuador
  • 67 Department of Applied Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
  • 68 College of Information and Communications Technology, Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
  • 69 Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico
  • 70 Health Sciences Department, Higher Institute of Health Sciences, Maputo, Mozambique
  • 71 African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science, University of Rwanda, Kayonza, Rwanda
  • 72 Medicine School, Vasco de Quiroga University, Morelia, Mexico
  • 73 Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Guayaquil, Ecuador
  • 74 Faculty of Higher Education Iztacala, National Autonomous University of Mexico, State of Mexico, Mexico
  • 75 Institute of Digital Humanities, Faculty of Computer Science, Information Technology and Energy, Riga Technical University, Riga. Latvia
  • 76 Department of Community Medicine, Kalinga Institute of Medical Science. Bhubaneswar, India
  • 77 Department of Statistical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • 78 Department of Linguistics and Translation, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, Kyiv, Ukraine
  • 79 Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, Mukuba University, Kitwe, Zambia
  • 80 Faculty of Education & Philology, University Fan S. Noli Korça, Korça, Albania
  • 81 Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 82 Department of Education, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 83 Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies, Dar es Salaam University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • 84 Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand
  • 85 Data Analysis Office, South East European University, Tetovo, Republic of North Macedonia
  • 86 Department of Arts Education, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
  • 87 Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 88 Faculty of Specific Education, Minia University, Minia, Egypt
  • 89 Education & Psychology, The Research Center for Innovation in Learning Technologies, Open University of Israel, Raanana, Israel
  • 90 Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Economics in Katowice, Katowice, Poland
  • 91 Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Cape Verde, Praia, Cape Verde
  • 92 Nursing Department, Health Polytechnic of Banjarmasin, Banjarbaru, Indonesia
  • 93 Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, Bangladesh
  • 94 Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
  • 95 Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
  • 96 Division of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society, University of Chester, Chester, United Kingdom
  • 97 Research Center for Advancing Science in the Social Services and Interventions, Social Work Program, Faculty of Arts and Science, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • 98 College of Languages & Translation, Sadat Academy for Management Sciences, Alexandria, Egypt
  • 99 Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
  • 100 Department of Early Childhood, College of Sciences and Humanities Studies, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
  • 101 Faculty of Medicine, University of Oran1, Oran, Algeria
  • 102 Department of Educational Sciences, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Cyprus
  • 103 School of Psychology, University of East London, London, United Kingdom
  • 104 Department of Informatics, University of Economics in Katowice, Katowice, Poland
  • 105 Department of Economics, Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
  • 106 Department of Education and Humanities, University of Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
  • 107 Institute of Sport Sciences and Physiotherapy, University of Tartu, Tartu. Estonia
  • 108 EKA University of Applied Sciences, Riga, Latvia
  • 109 Faculty of Distance Learning, Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, Kyiv, Ukraine
  • 110 English Education Study Program, Faculty of Teachers' Training and Education, Muhammadiyah University of Metro, Metro, Indonesia
  • 111 Faculty of Business & Law, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
  • 112 Department of Econometrics & Statistics, Faculty of Economics, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye
  • 113 Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
  • 114 Information and Marketing Sciences, Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe
PLoS One, 2025;20(2):e0315011.
PMID: 39908277 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0315011

Abstract

The paper presents the most comprehensive and large-scale global study to date on how higher education students perceived the use of ChatGPT in early 2024. With a sample of 23,218 students from 109 countries and territories, the study reveals that students primarily used ChatGPT for brainstorming, summarizing texts, and finding research articles, with a few using it for professional and creative writing. They found it useful for simplifying complex information and summarizing content, but less reliable for providing information and supporting classroom learning, though some considered its information clearer than that from peers and teachers. Moreover, students agreed on the need for AI regulations at all levels due to concerns about ChatGPT promoting cheating, plagiarism, and social isolation. However, they believed ChatGPT could potentially enhance their access to knowledge and improve their learning experience, study efficiency, and chances of achieving good grades. While ChatGPT was perceived as effective in potentially improving AI literacy, digital communication, and content creation skills, it was less useful for interpersonal communication, decision-making, numeracy, native language proficiency, and the development of critical thinking skills. Students also felt that ChatGPT would boost demand for AI-related skills and facilitate remote work without significantly impacting unemployment. Emotionally, students mostly felt positive using ChatGPT, with curiosity and calmness being the most common emotions. Further examinations reveal variations in students' perceptions across different socio-demographic and geographic factors, with key factors influencing students' use of ChatGPT also being identified. Higher education institutions' managers and teachers may benefit from these findings while formulating the curricula and instructions/regulations for ChatGPT use, as well as when designing the teaching methods and assessment tools. Moreover, policymakers may also consider the findings when formulating strategies for secondary and higher education system development, especially in light of changing labor market needs and related digital skills development.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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