A Tutor, a Tool, and a Sounding Board: How Statistics Students Use Generative AI

As generative AI tools such as ChatGPT become increasingly accessible, educators and researchers are paying close attention to how students use them in academic settings. The ASA Committee on Data Science and AI administered an online survey during the spring, summer, and fall of 2025. ChatGPT 5.2 was used to summarize and (qualitatively) analyze the open-ended responses. Findings suggest that students were engaging with generative AI in nuanced, deliberate, and evolving ways rather than having adopted it uncritically albeit in an academic landscape still actively considering how generative AI should be integrated into learning and scholarly practice.