KNOWLEDGE AND APPLICATION OF CHATGPT FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN BORNO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

AI-powered technologies such as ChatGPT are impacting how students carry out their academic activities. While ChatGPT has the capabilities to serve as an e-teacher, an analyst, and a writer, research on the knowledge and application of this novel technology in Borno State, a post-conflict recovery area, is not clear.  This study examines the awareness, areas of application, and challenges of adopting ChatGPT among students for academic purposes in the State. A quantitative survey method was employed for the study. A total of 278 university students participated in the research through the use of the questionnaire. The study revealed that the majority of the university students in Borno State are aware of ChatGPT (60.1%), and they got to know about it on the internet. Furthermore, the study revealed that although the majority of university students are aware of ChatGPT, only 53% of the total respondents have used it before, and their mobile phones were the major devices (88.6%) they used. This study further revealed that students use ChatGPT as a research assistant (47.1%), and overdependence and the limited understanding of context by ChatGPT were the major challenges faced by students using this chatbot for academic purposes. Based on these findings, this study recommends that ChatGPT be redesigned to capture and operate in line with the peculiar socio-cultural settings of Africa vis-à-vis academic learning.