University students feel “anxious, confused and suspicious” about AI in class and among their peers

The advent of the generator AI aroused waves of frustration and concern in the academic world for all the reasons that could be expected: the first studies show that the tools of artificial intelligence can dilute critical thinking And Sapped problem solving skills. And there are many reports that students use chatbots to cheat.

But how do students think of AI? And how does it affect their relationships with peers, instructors and their lessons?

I am part of a group of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh with a common interest in AI and undergraduate teaching. Although there is a Correction of growing research By exploring how the generating AI affects higher education, there is a group which, fear, is underrepresented in this literature, but perhaps only qualified to talk about the question: our students.

Our team organized a series of discussion groups with 95 students on our campuses in the spring of 2025 and found that if students and teachers actively use AI or not, it has important interpersonal and emotional effects on learning and classy. While AI products such as Chatgpt, Gemini or Claude affect, of course, the way students learn, their emergence also changes their relationships with their teachers and between them.

‘It's not going to judge you'

Most of our participants in our discussion groups had used AI in the academic framework – faced with a time crisis, when they perceive something like a “busy work” or when they are “trapped” and fear not to accomplish a task by themselves. We found that most students do not start a project using AI, but many are ready to turn to it at some point.

Many students have described positive experiences using AI to help them study or answer questions, or give them comments on articles. Some have even described using AI instead of a teacher, a tutor or a teaching assistant. Others have found a chatbot less intimidating than attending office hours when teachers could be “degrading”. In the words of an interviewee: “With Chatgpt, you can ask as many questions as you wish and that will not judge you.”

But using it, you can be judged. While some were delighted to use AI, many students expressed slight feelings of guilt or shame about their use of AI because of environmental or ethical concerns, or simply as lazy. Some have even expressed a feeling of helplessness, or a feeling of inevitability with regard to AI in their future.

Anxiety, mistrust and avoidance

While many students have expressed the feeling that the members of the faculty are, as a participant said, “very anti -fategpt”, they also deplored the fact that the rules concerning the acceptable use of AI were not sufficiently clear. As a single adult says in urban planning: “I feel uncertain of what expectations are”, with its counterpart, “we are not on the same wavelength with students and teachers or even individually. No one really is. “

Students also described feelings of distrust and frustration towards the peers whom they considered too dependent on AI. Some spoke of asking for help from classmates, only to find that they “had just used Chatgpt” and had not learned the equipment. Others have underlined group projects, where the use of AI was described as “a giant red flag” which made them “think less” of their peers.

These experiences are unfair and uncomfortable for students. They can report their classmates for violations of academic integrity – and enter another area in which distrust rises – or they can try to work with them, sometimes with resentment. “It ends up being more work for me,” said a major in political science, “because it is not only I who does my job for myself, it's me checking yours.”

Mistrust was a marker that we observed on both Student-teacher relations and student relations to student. The learners shared fears of being left behind if other students in their classes used chatbots to get better grades. This led to the emotional distance and the mistrust between the students. Indeed, our results reflect other reports which indicate that the simple possibility that a student has been able to use a generative AI tool is now Beginning of confidence in the classroom. Students are also worried Based accusations The use of AI as they are captured to use it.

Students have described feeling anxious, confused and suspicious, and sometimes even avoid peers or learning interactions. As a Educators, that worries us. We know that academic engagement – a key marker of students' success – comes not only from the study of course equipment, but also positive engagement with classmates and instructors.

AI affects relations

Indeed, research has shown that teacher-student relationships are a Important indicator of student success. Peer relationships are also essential. While students are going through significant mentoring relationships with significant teachers or learning experiences with peers due to discomfort on ambiguous or changing standards around the use of AI technology, higher education establishments could imagine alternative ways for connection. Residential campuses could double on courses and connections in person; Professors could be encouraged to encourage students to visit during office hours. Research, mentorship and campus events led by teachers where teachers and students mix informally could also make a difference.

We hope that our research will also be able to return the script and disturb the tropes on students who use AI as “cheaters”. Instead, he tells a more complex story of students who are immersed in a reality they have not asked for, with Little clear guidelines and little control.

While generating AI continues to deposit daily life and higher education institutions continue to seek solutions, our discussion groups reflect the importance of listening to students and considering new ways of helping students feel more comfortable connecting with peers and teachers. Understanding these evolving interpersonal dynamics, because the way we relate to technology increasingly affects the way we relate to each other. Given our dialogue experiences with them, it is clear that students are More than ready to speak This problem and its impact on their future.

Thanks: Thank you to the Complete Campus team at Pittsburgh Oakland University, Greensburg, Bradford and Johnstown, notably Annette Vee, Patrick Manning, Jessica Fitzpatrick, Jessica Ghilani, Catherine Kula, Patty Wharton-Michael, Jilei Jiang, Séan Dileonard, Mark Dimauro, Jeff Aziz, Gayard, Birney Young, Mark Dimauro, Jeff. Rogers.