UK students increasingly turn to ChatGPT for academic support, reveals study
A recent study conducted by EssayPro has shed light on the usage patterns of ChatGPT among students in the UK, particularly for essay writing assistance. Bath leads the list, with an average of 527.5 monthly searches per million residents seeking AI tools for essay writing, positioning it as the city with the highest likelihood of students turning to ChatGPT for academic help.
From Bath's leading position, the list spans various UK regions, including Inverness, Salford, and Luton. Each area has its own unique academic focus.
The University of Bath, known for its courses in accounting and finance, architecture, and biosciences, represents a student body proactive in seeking AI to check equations and factual information.
Similarly, at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Inverness, students studying computer science, economics, and psychology find ChatGPT helpful in simplifying complex concepts, although accuracy remains a concern.
Inverness, with 515.6 searches, and Salford, with 497.3 searches per million residents, follow Bath closely. These cities, alongside Luton and Lincoln, highlight a growing trend among students to leverage AI for academic support across various subjects, from computer science and economics to medical technology and bioengineering.
Wrexham is the only Welsh city in the rankings, with 380.6 monthly searches per million residents. The UK has an average of 165.5 monthly searches per million residents for AI writing assistance.
The analysis, spearheaded by EssayPro's Adam J, involved examining Google search volumes for 29 terms related to AI essay writing tools over the past year. This research aimed to identify which cities have students most inclined to utilise AI for quick and efficient essay completion, ranking cities based on monthly search volumes per million residents.
Rank City Average Monthly search volume per million residents
1 Bath 527.5
2 Inverness 515.6
3 Salford 497.3
4 Luton 473.9
5 Lincoln 456.0
6 Exeter 420.5
7 Wrexham 380.6
8 Manchester 359.2
9 Liverpool 340.6
10 Hereford 330.6
Adam J remarked on the study's findings:
“Students are bombarded with information and homework every day, making time one of the most precious commodities in college life. As busy as they are, turning to artificial intelligence to help them efficiently complete work seems like a no-brainer.
“ChatGPT and models like it can be used as an assistant but should never be used to write an entire essay or piece of work. For structural assistance or support with vocabulary to provide a better reading experience, A.I models excel and enhance the hard work a student puts into their essays. It can even help generate ideas and put thoughts into a coherent sentence.
“However, overuse of A.I can cause students to lose essential critical thinking and research skills. Generative learning models draw from existing material, opening the door for plagiarism concerns. It also has a limited knowledge base and can ultimately make up information from scratch with no real basis.
“Artificial intelligence has its place as a support mechanism for writers, but the time taken to refine a generated essay would be better utilised to using your own thoughts and research to create a stronger piece of work.”
