How are UBC students using Generative AI? 

The beginning of this article appeared in the February 2025 edition of Edubytes. 

There is a long history of resistance and concern about how tools educators did not use as students will negatively impact learners. From Socrates, who argued writing would impede learning, to the broad resistance in allowing students to use calculators and later laptops in the classroom, these tools have eventually become both ubiquitous and valuable in supporting student learning. Generative AI (GenAI) has reignited this debate, with many assuming students are using tools such as ChatGPT in ways that inhibit their learning. Yet, reports like the Pan-Canadian Report on Digital Learning, indicate there is a strong consensus among faculty and university leadership that GenAI will become a normal part of post-secondary education within a few years.  

In preparation for the 2025 GenAI in Teaching and Learning Symposium, we asked UBC students about their use of GenAI. We heard from over 3,000 students on both campuses (75% UBC Vancouver, 25% UBC Okanagan) and from both undergraduate (84%) and graduate students (16%).

Students were asked three closed-ended questions: 

• How often do you use Generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, DALL-E) for your personal learning or as part of your courses at UBC?
• In your courses, do you know if you’re allowed to use AI?
• What are the range of tasks you use these tools for?

And two open-ended questions:

• What could UBC do to help you gain skills for the use of these tools?
• Is there anything else you’d like to share with us to inform UBC’s approach to AI?

In this post, we explore the student responses to the closed-ended questions.

How often do you use Generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, DALL-E) for your personal learning or as part of your courses at UBC? 

While 16% of students indicated they use GenAI 5 days a week, and surprising number of students (22%) shared that they’ve never used GenAI for their personal learning or as a part of a UBC course. Overall, a substantial 61% of respondents reported using these tools at least once a week for their personal learning or coursework, suggesting that GenAI is becoming an integral part of student’s learning toolkit. 

There were no statistically significant differences for frequency of use across level of studies (graduate compared to undergraduate students). However, UBC Vancouver students were slightly more likely to use GenAI less than once a week or never (45% UBCV compared to 40% UBCO). 

In your courses, do you know if you’re allowed to use AI?  

Despite the widespread use of GenAI, students reported a lack of clarity regarding the acceptable use of these tools in their courses. The majority of students responding to the survey (61%) indicated they were unclear about whether they could use GenAI in most of their courses. This emerged as a major theme in the open-ended responses with students mentioning vague or non-existent course policies around GenAI use, with some even noting they were unclear if reading the Google AI Overview for a search was a violation of course policies. 

What are the range of tasks you use these tools for? 

Students reporting leveraging GenAI for a wide range of tasks, reflecting the versatility of these tools. The most common uses reported include: 

• Information Retrieval: A majority of students (64%) utilize GenAI to search for information relevant to their coursework, suggesting a need for more multifaceted tools to navigate and assess the overwhelming amount of information available online. 
• Writing Assistance: GenAI is also widely used to enhance the quality of written work, with over half of the respondents (55%) utilizing AI to check grammar, spelling, and writing style.  
• Summarization: The ability of GenAI to condense lengthy texts into concise summaries is also highly valued by students with 51% of respondents reporting this use. This indicates students may view GenAI as both a useful tool in helping identify key concepts in complex academic texts and as a way to manage their academic workload. 
• Exam Preparation: A lost half of students (49%) reported using GenAI for exam preparation, with students in open-ended responses mentioning using GenAI to study tools such as create flash cards and self-assessments.  
• Improving understanding: 39% of students use Generative AI to explain or clarify concepts discussed in lectures. In open ended responses, many students mentioned GenAI being a useful tool to personalize the learning experience by providing tailored explanations and addressing individual learning needs, particularly for international students or students with disabilities. 

While there were very few differences in applications across campuses, there were some notable differences in how undergraduate and graduate students utilize these tools. Undergraduate students report focusing on using GenAI for tasks such as information gathering, exam preparation, and improving the clarity of their writing, while graduate students are more likely to use GenAI for tasks such as summarizing research articles, creating outlines for writing projects, and coding. This suggests undergraduate students might view GenAI as a way to enhance their understanding of course material and refine their academic skills, while graduate students view it as a tool to support their research activities and manage the complexities of more advanced academic work.  

Students also shared a number of concerns and recommendations for both UBC leadership and UBC faculty. We’ll explore these findings in the next article What do students want you to know about generative AI?