The use and usefulness of GenAI in higher education: student experience and perspectives

Higher education institutions face the need to support learners' access to and use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in appropriate and effective ways. However, the rapid growth of GenAI means that policy and practice has evolved with limited empirical data about student experience, attitudes, and motivations. In response, this paper reports on a large-scale multi-institution survey of over 8000 students studying at four Australian universities. We examine the frequency and purpose of GenAI usage, identifying key demographic variations in engagement. Our findings show that over 80% of students have used GenAI for study-related tasks, with nearly half using it regularly, primarily for editing, summarising, and idea generation. Usefulness, rather than blind trust or rule compliance, appears to drive this engagement. Students adopt GenAI pragmatically, with low trust in its factual accuracy, but confidence in their own ability to manage it as a support tool for academic work. We also investigate how students learn about these tools, finding that most rely on informal, self-directed learning rather than institutional resources, raising questions about the adequacy of current university guidance. Equity gaps in access and usage are evident, with proportionately lower engagement with GenAI tools among women, non-binary, neurodivergent students, and those with health conditions. While most students avoid prohibited use, a significant minority report behaviour that contravenes policy, pointing to a need for more nuanced and situationally aware approaches to academic integrity. These findings offer critical insights for institutional responses.