IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i3p1276-d1332154.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Artificial Intelligence Autonomy in Higher Education: A Uses and Gratification Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Wanshu Niu

    (School of Business, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China)

  • Wuke Zhang

    (School of Business, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China)

  • Chuanxia Zhang

    (Department of Student Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China)

  • Xiaofeng Chen

    (College of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, Hangzhou 310007, China)

Abstract

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, AI educators have become a reality. The advancement and increasing applications of AI technology in higher education not only provide more efficient tools for teachers in long-term and focused teaching, but also provide new active and independent spaces for sustainable self-motivated learning for college students. It is of great importance that the effects of AI educator design are understood to ensure the sustainable development and deployment of AI-driven courses at universities. This paper investigates the influences of AI educators’ autonomy design on students’ usage intentions by delving into how the artificial autonomy of AI educators satisfies students’ needs. Drawing on the uses and gratification (U&G) framework, we theoretically elaborate on how AI educator autonomy (i.e., sensing autonomy, thought autonomy, and action autonomy) influences students’ intentions to use an AI educator through the mediating effects of U&G benefits (i.e., information-seeking gratification, social interaction gratification, and entertainment gratification). By conducting an online survey (N = 673) on college students, we found that the sensing autonomy of AI educators is positively associated with usage intention due to the mediating effects of social interaction and entertainment gratifications; the thought autonomy of AI educators is positively related to usage intention, mediated by information-seeking and social interaction gratifications, and the action autonomy of AI educators is positively linked with usage intention through the paths of information-seeking and entertainment gratifications. Our findings provide both theoretical contributions and practical implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Wanshu Niu & Wuke Zhang & Chuanxia Zhang & Xiaofeng Chen, 2024. "The Role of Artificial Intelligence Autonomy in Higher Education: A Uses and Gratification Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-26, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:1276-:d:1332154
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/1276/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/1276/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jarrahi, Mohammad Hossein, 2018. "Artificial intelligence and the future of work: Human-AI symbiosis in organizational decision making," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 577-586.
    2. Eighmey, John & McCord, Lola, 1998. "Adding Value in the Information Age: Uses and Gratifications of Sites on the World Wide Web," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 187-194, March.
    3. Chebat, Jean-Charles & Gelinas-Chebat, Claire & Therrien, Karina, 2005. "Lost in a mall, the effects of gender, familiarity with the shopping mall and the shopping values on shoppers' wayfinding processes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(11), pages 1590-1598, November.
    4. Rijsdijk, S.A. & Hultink, E.J. & Diamantopoulos, A., 2007. "Product Intelligence: Its Conceptualization, Measurement and Impact on Consumer Satisfaction," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-006-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Caroline Ardelet & Nathalie Veg-Sala & Alain Goudey & Marie Haikel-Elsabeh, 2017. "Between fear and desire for smart products: toward an understanding of consumers ambivalence [Entre crainte et désir pour les objets connectés : comprendre l'ambivalence des consommateurs]," Post-Print hal-01570286, HAL.
    2. Siliang Tong & Nan Jia & Xueming Luo & Zheng Fang, 2021. "The Janus face of artificial intelligence feedback: Deployment versus disclosure effects on employee performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(9), pages 1600-1631, September.
    3. Shanyu Lin & Esra Sipahi Döngül & Serdar Vural Uygun & Mutlu Başaran Öztürk & Dinh Tran Ngoc Huy & Pham Van Tuan, 2022. "Exploring the Relationship between Abusive Management, Self-Efficacy and Organizational Performance in the Context of Human–Machine Interaction Technology and Artificial Intelligence with the Effect o," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-22, February.
    4. Michael Vössing & Niklas Kühl & Matteo Lind & Gerhard Satzger, 2022. "Designing Transparency for Effective Human-AI Collaboration," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 877-895, June.
    5. Sutthipong Meeyai, 2015. "Modeling Store Patronage: A Systematic Review," International Conference on Marketing and Business Development Journal, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 40-48, July.
    6. Thomas P. Novak & Donna L. Hoffman, 2019. "Relationship journeys in the internet of things: a new framework for understanding interactions between consumers and smart objects," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 216-237, March.
    7. Yang Shen, 2024. "Future jobs: analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on employment and its mechanisms," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-33, April.
    8. Ivan De Battista & Franco Curmi & Emanuel Said, 2021. "Influencing Factors Affecting Young People’s Attitude Towards Online Advertising: A Systematic Literature Review," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 11(3), pages 58-72.
    9. Petschnig, Martin & Heidenreich, Sven & Spieth, Patrick, 2014. "Innovative alternatives take action – Investigating determinants of alternative fuel vehicle adoption," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 68-83.
    10. Watson, Graeme J. & Desouza, Kevin C. & Ribiere, Vincent M. & Lindič, Jaka, 2021. "Will AI ever sit at the C-suite table? The future of senior leadership," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 465-474.
    11. Sudhanshu Joshi & Manu Sharma & Rashmi Prava Das & Joanna Rosak-Szyrocka & Justyna Żywiołek & Kamalakanta Muduli & Mukesh Prasad, 2022. "Modeling Conceptual Framework for Implementing Barriers of AI in Public Healthcare for Improving Operational Excellence: Experiences from Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.
    12. Rosenbaum, Mark S. & Otalora, Mauricio Losada & Ramírez, Germán Contreras, 2016. "The restorative potential of shopping malls," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 157-165.
    13. Razmak, Jamil & Bélanger, Charles H., 2017. "Comparing Canadian physicians and patients on their use of e-health tools," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 102-112.
    14. Sunyoung Hlee & Jimin Lee & Daeseop Moon & Changsok Yoo, 0. "The acceptance of ‘intelligent trade shows’: Visitors’ evaluations of IS innovation," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-13.
    15. Ertugrul Uysal & Sascha Alavi & Valéry Bezençon, 2022. "Trojan horse or useful helper? A relationship perspective on artificial intelligence assistants with humanlike features," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 1153-1175, November.
    16. Yu, Feifei & Wang, Liting & Li, Xiaotong, 2020. "The effects of government subsidies on new energy vehicle enterprises: The moderating role of intelligent transformation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    17. Cheng-Feng Cheng & Chien-Che Huang & Ming-Chang Lin & Ta-Cheng Chen, 2023. "Exploring Effectiveness of Relationship Marketing on Artificial Intelligence Adopting Intention," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    18. Lin, Tung-Ching & Huang, Shiu-Li & Hsu, Chieh-Ju, 2015. "A dual-factor model of loyalty to IT product – The case of smartphones," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 215-228.
    19. Christoph Keding, 2021. "Understanding the interplay of artificial intelligence and strategic management: four decades of research in review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(1), pages 91-134, February.
    20. Fazal Ur Rehman & Basheer M. Al-Ghazali & Adel Ghaleb Haddad & Ehab Abdullatif Qahwash & M. Sadiq Sohail, 2023. "Exploring the Reverse Relationship between Circular Economy Innovation and Digital Sustainability—The Dual Mediation of Government Incentives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-21, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:1276-:d:1332154. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.