Ethical impact of AI on university students: Challenges in adoption and their understanding

Abstract

The present study explores, from the field of higher education, how educational actors perceive disruptive technologies, specifically artificial intelligence. What positions and criteria they adopt, what justification they give to their management, the perceived usefulness of their use, the ethical regulations and the conceptual understanding of the management of these technologies. The theories of cognitive dissonance, acceptance of TAM technology, moral responsibility in autonomous systems and digital literacy were adopted to identify how intelligent automation is applied by its actors. Through a quantitative approach and an experiential and descriptive perspective, the perceptions and practices in relation to the ethical impact and use of these intelligent systems are analyzed. The results reveal a growing distance between the usefulness of AI and the ethical considerations regarding its use, directly linked to the absence of policies and standards established for its implementation. This article concludes with a discussion of the approach that educational actors give to the implementation of advanced algorithms, focused on the technological perspective, and not as a comprehensive analysis that is incorporated transversally into the teaching-learning process, which allows facing the ethical challenges presented. by the artificial neural network in the university environment.

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence, Ethics of technology, Digital competence