Students and educators alike find current artificial intelligence use education inadequate, according to the results of a new KPMG survey.
While 75 percent of Canadian students used generative AI for school, only 53 percent reported being formally educated on the appropriate and responsible use of AI for academic requirements. Just 46 percent of Canadian educators indicated that students were getting adequate responsible AI education.
Educators indicated that their main concerns with AI use by students were cheating/academic dishonesty (70 percent), overreliance on AI tools hampering the learning process (62 percent), and plagiarism/copyright concerns (34 percent). Fifty-nine percent of educators indicated that with Canada’s education system, they did not believe students were being adequately prepared for a future where AI is a standard workplace tool.
Seventy-nine percent of educators believe that students need explicit instruction in responsible and ethical AI use, and 70 percent of students indicated that institutions should provide more generative AI use courses.
“Many students already find AI as familiar as using a search engine or calculator for their assignments. The issue is that adoption happened faster than building the systems needed to teach students how to use these tools responsibly,” said Rob Clayton, KPMG Canada’s national education practice leader, in a statement.
Clayton said proper AI use was “about more than knowing how to prompt.”
“Students need to understand when AI can enhance learning and when they need to rely on their own judgment, analysis and critical-thinking abilities. Those skills will be essential as they enter an increasingly AI-enabled workforce,” he said.
Fifty-one percent of students reported a decline in their critical thinking skills after they began to use AI. Sixty-nine percent believed their peers leaned on AI to dodge having to think critically.
“Educational institutions are entering a new phase of AI development. The question is no longer whether students are using AI. They already are. The challenge now is designing learning environments that encourage students to think, question, collaborate, and apply their knowledge in new ways,” said Jameel Ahamed, KPMG Canada’s national leader of data platforms and AI. “AI is prompting educators to reimagine how learning happens inside and outside of the classroom. The educational institutions that embrace this change will be in a better position to equip students with the skills and confidence needed to thrive in rapidly evolving workplaces.”
For this survey, KPMG Canada obtained feedback from 1,009 Canadians from July 22 to August 5.