Effect of Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbots on the 21st Century Skills Development of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) learning tools such as chatbots have the potential to enhance the learning experience of students and develop their 21st Century skills.  In this study, we investigate how the use of AI chatbots affects the development of undergraduate students’ communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking which are essential 21st century skills. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey design, data was collected from a stratified sample of 382 undergraduate students from four public universities in Ghana. The findings of the study show that, there is high prevalence of AI chatbot usage among students with ChatGPT and Meta AI being the most utilized tools. The students mainly use AI chatbots for researching information and assisting them in their assignments.  It was also found that the frequent use of AI chatbots significantly relates to the development of communication, creativity and critical thinking skills among students, but not their collaboration skills. Moreover, the frequency of AI chatbot usage among students is significantly affected by their age and level of study, whereas their gender, field of study and institution had no significant effect. The findings of the study underscore the importance of targeted interventions in guiding students to ethically use AI chatbots to develop essential 21st century skills.