A171.
Zhang, C., Rice, R. E., & Wang, L. H.
(2025). US college
students’ acceptability and educational benefits of ChatGPT from a
digital
divide perspective. Computers and
Education: Artificial Intelligence, 8. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2025.100385
ChatGPT
has diffused widely and rapidly, with diverse positive and negative
implications. In educational settings it is important to understand
students'
perceptions of the acceptability of ChatGPT for various learning
activities and
to examine whether prior digital divide concerns pertain to this
digital
innovation, in order to provide guidance for users, inform policymakers
and
other stakeholders, and extend digital divide research. The purpose is
to
investigate the associations of socioeconomic status (SES, both family
and
student), gender, and race/ethnicity with students’ perceived
acceptability of
common ChatGPT activities as well as their opinion about how beneficial
ChatGPT
is for college education, and additionally, whether such relationships
differ
based on adoption experience. We analyzed survey data quantitatively in
two
phases (N = 360 and 1267), applying measurement reliability
and
validity, correlations, and structural equation modeling. The results
indicate
that students with higher family SES and lower individual SES, and
females,
tend to view the acceptability of ChatGPT uses more positively,
although
racial/ethnic minorities are more critical of displacement activities.
ChatGPT
adopters perceive two dimensions of ChatGPT activities (academic
support and
academic displacement) as more acceptable than do non-adopters, and
they also
perceive uses for academic support more positively than for
displacement.
Moreover, adoption is a significant moderator of some of these
associations. At
this early stage of ChatGPT diffusion, these digital divide influences
on
acceptability and general opinion are weak and variable. The discussion
further
considers theoretical and practical implications for digital education
in the
AI era.