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Harvard Undergraduate Survey on Generative AI

Shikoh Hirabayashi, Rishab Jain, Nikola Jurković, Gabriel Wu

TL;DR

This study surveys Harvard undergraduates to quantify how generative AI reshapes learning, course decisions, and career outlooks, revealing near-ubiquitous use (about 87.5%), with ChatGPT as the dominant tool and a sizable share paying for premium subscriptions. The results show AI influencing office-hour use, readings, course choices, and career plans, alongside concerns about fairness, economic inequality, and large-scale societal risks such as extinction probability. The authors translate findings into actionable recommendations for policy, curriculum, career services, and mental health support, aiming to mitigate disruption while guiding future research. Overall, the paper highlights both the rapid integration of AI into student life and the need for institutional responses to ensure equitable access, responsible use, and preparation for AI-enabled futures.

Abstract

How has generative AI impacted the experiences of college students? We study the influence of AI on the study habits, class choices, and career prospects of Harvard undergraduates (n=326), finding that almost 90% of students use generative AI. For roughly 25% of these students, AI has begun to substitute for attending office hours and completing required readings. Half of students are concerned that AI will negatively impact their job prospects, and over half of students wish that Harvard had more classes on the future impacts of AI. We also investigate students' outlook on the broader social implications of AI, finding that half of students are worried that AI will increase economic inequality, and 40% believe that extinction risk from AI should be treated as a global priority with the same urgency as pandemics and nuclear war. Around half of students who have taken a class on AI expect AI to exceed human capabilities on almost all tasks within 30 years. We make some recommendations to the Harvard community in light of these results.

Harvard Undergraduate Survey on Generative AI

TL;DR

This study surveys Harvard undergraduates to quantify how generative AI reshapes learning, course decisions, and career outlooks, revealing near-ubiquitous use (about 87.5%), with ChatGPT as the dominant tool and a sizable share paying for premium subscriptions. The results show AI influencing office-hour use, readings, course choices, and career plans, alongside concerns about fairness, economic inequality, and large-scale societal risks such as extinction probability. The authors translate findings into actionable recommendations for policy, curriculum, career services, and mental health support, aiming to mitigate disruption while guiding future research. Overall, the paper highlights both the rapid integration of AI into student life and the need for institutional responses to ensure equitable access, responsible use, and preparation for AI-enabled futures.

Abstract

How has generative AI impacted the experiences of college students? We study the influence of AI on the study habits, class choices, and career prospects of Harvard undergraduates (n=326), finding that almost 90% of students use generative AI. For roughly 25% of these students, AI has begun to substitute for attending office hours and completing required readings. Half of students are concerned that AI will negatively impact their job prospects, and over half of students wish that Harvard had more classes on the future impacts of AI. We also investigate students' outlook on the broader social implications of AI, finding that half of students are worried that AI will increase economic inequality, and 40% believe that extinction risk from AI should be treated as a global priority with the same urgency as pandemics and nuclear war. Around half of students who have taken a class on AI expect AI to exceed human capabilities on almost all tasks within 30 years. We make some recommendations to the Harvard community in light of these results.
Paper Structure (15 sections, 17 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 15 sections, 17 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The Rise of Generative AI: A Student Perspective
  3. Purpose of this report
  4. Results
  5. Overall AI use
  6. Impact on study habits
  7. Impact on course selection and career plans
  8. Broader societal concerns
  9. Recommendations
  10. Conclusion
  11. Demographic information
  12. Impact of paid AI subscriptions
  13. Additional figures
  14. Survey details
  15. All survey questions

Figures (17)

  • Figure 1: Most Harvard students who use generative AI report using it at least once a week.
  • Figure 2: The proportion of respondents who use generative AI that report using each of six popular AI products. OpenAI's ChatGPT is by far the most widely used product.
  • Figure 3: Students use generative AI for a wide variety of purposes, including answering general questions and help writing essays, emails, and code.
  • Figure 4: Impact of AI use on study habits, among students who use generative AI (with the exception of "I am worried that my peers will use generative AI to gain an unfair advantage in classes," which was asked to all respondents).
  • Figure 5: Impact of AI on students' coursework and career plans. These questions were asked to all respondents.
  • ...and 12 more figures