Empowering Engineering Students Through Artificial Intelligence (AI): Blended Human–AI Creative Ideation Processes With ChatGPT

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into education has the potential to revolutionize how students engage in academic activities and tasks. This research empirically analyses the influence of AI on creative ideation within educational settings to validate AI's role in enhancing human creativity since creative tasks, which inherently rely on human intuition, emotion and divergent thinking, may be stifled by systematic AI tools. The study explores whether ChatGPT can aid the creative process or inadvertently limit human creativity with a mixed-method approach consisting of a randomized controlled experiment with third-year engineering students in which a total of 728 ideas were obtained, along with a structured survey. The results revealed a predominantly positive perception towards AI-assisted ideation; nevertheless, concerns were raised about AI's influence on creativity and innovation. While no significant differences in ideation outcomes were observed between the groups that used AI and those that did not, significant differences emerged between students who had prior experience with ChatGPT and those who did not. Qualitative insights provided a nuanced view of student experiences on blended human–AI ideation processes, shedding light on its advantages and disadvantages in educational practices. This research also underscores critical considerations and potential risks associated with the adoption of AI, suggesting that while AI has a place in educational settings, its role should be carefully calibrated to support rather than stifle student creativity and innovation. From the findings, the study provides practical recommendations and best practices regarding the integration of AI tools in education.