Adoption of ChatGPT among Sri Lankan Youth

Abstract

ChatGPT is a form of generative AI tool used for content creation, code generation, and information retrieval. Enhancement of student academic productivity in the recent past has led to its popularity among youth. It has been reported that ChatGPT can improve students’ academic productivity. On the other hand, educators and researchers argue that using ChatGPT, has some negative impact on student learning; creativity blunting, academic plagiarism, becoming dependent on technology, generating incorrect answers, etc. Objective of this study is to identify the impact of adoption to ChatGPT on youth. Quantitative research approach was employed and data were collected from 380 undergraduates of five (05) selected leading private sector universities using online pre-tested structured questionnaires. Conceptual Framework was formulated with Relative advantage, Compatibility, Ease of Use, and Observability as independent variables, and adoption of ChatGPT among Youth as the dependent variable. Data were analyzed using SPSS. The findings revealed that relative advantage, and Ease of Use are the most significant positive predictors of adoption among youth. These factors highlight the importance of emphasizing the unique value of ChatGPT, and ensuring a user-friendly interface to encourage broader adoption. Compatibility and Observability factors have been identified as significant, but with a lesser impact compared to the other two factors. Researcher recommended that for ChatGPT to be more widely adopted by young users, developers and policymakers should prioritize improving user experience and effectively communicating the benefits of the tool. These efforts could help to bridge the gap between awareness and active adoption. This research adds to the existing literature on AI technology adoption, particularly in relation to conversational agents like ChatGPT, by offering insights into what drives adoption among youth. In addressing the knowledge gap, researcher suggests that focusing on usability and clearly demonstrating the practical advantages of AI technologies like ChatGPT could significantly boost adoption rates among youth.