The rapid increase of digital technology such as ‘Artificial Intelligence’ among the college going students is significantly changing the personal life and academic performance. The use of AI in Higher Education is becoming indispensable tool for students for improving their academic careers as well as enjoying their personal lives. Despite having many advantages, there is ample evidence form the research that excess use of digital technology (such as, AI) among students poses various issues, such mental fatigue, stress, anxiety, isolation and other psychological abnormalities. The ultimate effect of digital exposure on the life of student will impact their social connection and their inability to maintain balance between personal life and academics. In order to evaluate the effect of AI-driven overstimulation on the learning behaviour (such as attention and concentration) a study was conducted on the students currently enrolled in the Govt. Degree College Dooru (rural college). The overarching aim of this study was to measure the self-reported effect of AI-driven overstimulation on the learning pattern of students by using a structured questionnaire. This study was carried out by the 8th semester student (Honours with Research (FYUGP), Danish Ayoub Mir under the supervision of Dr. Ummer Rashid Zargar (Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology).
In this survey study, AI Exposure Scale (AIES) scale, consisting of 30 items with seven subscales, was used to elucidate and quantify the effect of AI-Driven digital tools on the learning and cognitive behaviours of students. Each subscale was designed to measure the specific domain of digital overstimulation and its effect on the attention and concentration among the students. All these items employed 5-point Likert Scale (where, 1=Never and 5=Always). Benchmarks (severity level) for the ‘AI Exposure Scale’ was developed to categorise the exposure level among the students. Questionnaire Google Form was created to collect responses from the students enrolled in different semesters. Students were given proper guideline for the submission of their responses and were also informed about the aims and objectives of this survey. After one week, 100 respondents send their responses which were further analysed by using statistical tools.
The survey results showed that 39.0% of respondents reported 2–4 hours/day screentime and only 6% respondents indicated their screen time was less than 8 hours/day. Thirty percent (30%) of student respondents reported screen time addiction of 4–6 hours per day. The results indicate that 73% of students reported no major anxiety disorder due to overstimulation of different AI/Digital tools. However, 12% of respondents revealed some sort of anxiety disorder and only 5% reported Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Few students (3%) also reported some mental conditions due to overuse of AI/Digital tools. As per this study, the surge in AI or digital tool exposure among college students increased cognitive stimulation, influenced ‘content-switching behaviour’ and is responsible for fragmented attention span.
The results from this study showed moderate screen addiction of AI drive digital tools. The increased screen time among adolescents, especially among college going student is a major concern among the higher education policy makers. The surge in screen time addiction among student may reduce various leaning behaviours, such as book reading, regular library visits and other conventional learning methods. The moderate screen addiction among the students of college reflects that this college is rural and some student may not have access to advanced AI-driven digital tools. Majority of recent research suggest that screen time addiction of digital tools is increasing among undergraduate students. The results from the present study reveals that AI driven tools are impacting attention span of student studying in different semesters. This could be due to that fact that fundamental idea behind the creation of digital tools is to captures the attention of subjects, thereby increasing their subscript and popularity. These results could be also explained on the basis ‘attention economy’, which provides explanation of various digital tools (social medial applications, websites, AI-based platforms) are tailormade to keep continuous attention of subscribers through various means (including continuous notification, curated content through different algorithms etc.).
Overall, these results clearly indicated that overstimulation of AI-driven digital tools significantly contributes to the decline in concentration and attention span among the college going students. The result further indicates that unregulated use of these digital devices seem to be major obstacle for the enhancing learning behaviour of students as excessive use of these devices cause distractions, reduction in attention control and also leads to decline in cognitive behaviour. However, it is pertinent to mention that there are also advantages of AI-driven tools ranging from effective online education to easy access to knowledge from various sources. There is urgent need to find a way to promote digital well-being in colleges, judicious use of technology, and modified methods to sustain concentration and deep learning while using AI-driven tools. The main application of this study is that the data generated will provide a baseline information for the evaluation of excess use of AI-driven tools on the students currently enrolled in different colleges of J&K. Although this study was meticulously carried out to avoid any shortcoming, nevertheless, the study has some limitations. The sample size of study was comparative low (100 students) which may not allow us to make general inferences that could be applicable for academic institutions. It is strongly recommended to make AI-Curated policies in higher education system to prevent the digital overstimulation during teaching-learning process which may be useful for maintaining the attention and concentration.
Disclaimer: The research and ideas presented in this article are for research purposes only and do not reflect the views or position of the institution.
Danish Ayoub Mir, Dr. Ummer Rashid Zargar, Prof. Nusrat Jan, Department of Zoology, Govt. Degree College Dooru.
