Chapter 5: Attitude Towards Artificial Intelligence: Perspectives From Students in Economic Studies

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the development of computer systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. Previously, working with AI has required extensive training and years of experience. The emergence of ChatGPT in 2022 and other generative AIs has led to dramatic changes. Whereas earlier AI could only be used by people with special skills, the new era has made AI accessible to a wide range of users without special training. With such low entry requirements, generative AI has quickly become popular among students. They can use it for visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, translation between languages and text creation. It is important to understand students’ attitudes and expectations regarding AI. The literature review showed that students’ use of AI varies according to their field of study. Therefore, this study, which places a high value on the insights of economics students, aims to determine their attitudes towards AI, focusing on how factors such as gender, academic year, work experience and academic specialization influence attitudes such as the role of AI in improving their lives, studies, work, the future use of AI and whether it will have a positive or negative impact on humanity. The study finds that practical work experience significantly increases students’ appreciation of the potential applications of AI, particularly in improving academic and professional tasks. Attitudes towards AI also vary significantly by gender and field of study.