Date
Publisher
arXiv
As AI becomes increasingly embedded across societal domains, understanding how future AI practitioners, particularly technology students, perceive its risks is essential for responsible development and adoption. This study analyzed responses from 139 students in Computer Science, Data Science/Data Analytics, and other disciplines using both explicit AI risk ratings and scenario-based assessments of risk and adoption willingness. Four key findings emerged: (1) Students expressed substantially higher concern for concrete, explicitly stated risks than for abstract or scenario-embedded risks; (2) Perceived risk and willingness to adopt AI demonstrated a clear inverse relationship; (3) Although technical education narrowed gender differences in risk awareness, male students reported higher adoption willingness; and (4) A form of "risk underappreciation" was observed, wherein students in AI-related specializations showed both elevated explicit risk awareness and higher willingness to adopt AI, despite lower recognition of risks in applied scenarios. These findings underscore the need for differentiated AI literacy strategies that bridge the gap between awareness and responsible adoption and offer valuable insights for educators, policymakers, industry leaders, and academic institutions aiming to cultivate ethically informed and socially responsible AI practitioners.
Study at a glance
- Question: How do university students perceive AI risks and how does this relate to their willingness to adopt AI?
- Setting and data: Higher education; 139 students in Computer Science, Data Science/Data Analytics, and other disciplines.
- Method: Analysis of student responses to explicit risk ratings and scenario-based assessments
Why it matters
As AI becomes increasingly embedded across societal domains, understanding how future practitioners, particularly technology students, perceive its risks is essential for responsible development and adoption.
Key findings
- Among 139 college students in computing and other fields, concern was substantially higher for explicitly stated AI risks than for risks in realistic scenarios.
- Perceiving greater risk in AI was linked to a lower willingness to adopt the technology.
- Students in AI majors showed high general risk awareness and adoption willingness, but recognized fewer risks in practical scenarios.
Summary drafted with AI from the paper’s abstract and may contain errors. See the full paper for details.
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