The Impact of Artificial Intelligence-Supported Education on Students’ Academic Confidence: The Mediating Effect of Learning Self-Efficacy

Abstract

The increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into higher education has transformed conventional learning practices by providing students with personalized academic support, immediate feedback, accessible learning resources, and opportunities for independent learning. Despite these developments, comparatively limited attention has been given to the psychological outcomes of AI-supported education, particularly students’ academic confidence and the role of learning self-efficacy in this relationship. Therefore, the present study examined the impact of Artificial Intelligence-Supported Education on students’ academic confidence and investigated whether Learning Self-Efficacy mediated this relationship. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was adopted for the study. Data were collected from 453 university students in Pakistan through an adopted and adapted structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered online using Google Forms, and respondents were approached from selected higher education institutions across major educational areas of Pakistan. The collected responses were initially organized and coded in Microsoft Excel and were subsequently transferred to IBM SPSS Statistics for analysis. Descriptive statistics and reliability analysis were used to examine the data, while Pearson correlation, simple linear regression, and mediation analysis were employed to examine the relationships among the study variables. The findings indicated that Artificial Intelligence-Supported Education was positively associated with students’ academic confidence and significantly contributed to their learning self-efficacy. Learning Self-Efficacy was also found to be a significant predictor of students’ academic confidence. Furthermore, the mediation findings demonstrated that Learning Self-Efficacy played a significant mediating role in the relationship between Artificial Intelligence-Supported Education and academic confidence, indicating that AI-supported educational experiences may strengthen students’ academic confidence partly by enhancing their beliefs in their own learning capabilities. The study contributes to the growing body of research on AI in higher education by highlighting the psychological pathway through which AI-supported education may influence students’ academic experiences. The findings may assist educators, higher education institutions, and educational planners in developing AI-supported learning environments that promote students’ self-efficacy, independent learning, and academic confidence while maintaining active student engagement in the learning process.