Challenges and Risks of AI Usage on Students’ Academic Performance: A Case Study at the University of Nizwa, Oman

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the world in all spheres of life. Starting with the fundamentals, AI has altered key areas in the industry and is now poised to encroach upon the realm of education, most notably in higher education. Undoubtedly, the reliance on AI has been steadily rising in the past few years, and the University of Nizwa, in the Sultanate of Oman has been taken as a case study to establish the link between student performance and the usage of AI. Being exploratory research, this article attempts to shed light on the perspectives of AI being used to bolster students’ motivation and the extent of their involvement in the learning process. The main aim of this study is to observe the moderating factors, such as academic specialization and academic level, which may impact the relationship between the use of AI technologies and the students’ academic performance at the University of Nizwa. In doing so, this study seeks to answer questions on how educational specialization influences students’ gains from AI technologies. What are the challenges students encounter in utilizing AI technologies in their learning? For the research methodology, this study employed a quantitative approach based on a structured questionnaire analyzed using statistical procedures (descriptive statistics, correlation, regression and t-test) for the 115 random samples.