We’re a group of academics in the field of media and communication, teaching in South African universities. We wanted to understand how university students were using generative AI and AI-powered tools in their academic practices. We administered an online survey to undergraduate students at five South African universities: the University of Cape Town, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Stellenbosch University, Rhodes University, and the University of the Witwatersrand. The results suggest that the moral panics around the use of generative AI are unwarranted. Students are not hyper-focused on ChatGPT. We found that students often use generative AI tools for engaged learning and that they have a critical and nuanced understanding of these tools.
