Exploring intentions to adopt GenAI in academia: perceived usefulness and attitudes among scholars and researchers

This study aims to investigate scholars’ and researchers’ perceptions, attitudes, and intentions toward using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in academic research. Employing a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 1,283 participants in China. After removing missing values, 1150 valid responses were analyzed. Results indicate that perceived usefulness of GenAI was positively associated with attitudes (β = 0.489, p < 0.001) and directly associated with usage intention (β = 0.385, p < 0.001). Furthermore, attitudes toward GenAI had a positive effect on usage intention (β = 0.323, p < 0.001) and mediated the association between perceived usefulness and intention (indirect effect = 0.157, Boot95% CI [0.120, 0.199]). These findings underscore that positive perceptions of GenAI’s usefulness are associated with more favorable attitudes and stronger intentions to adopt it in research. By applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to GenAI adoption, this study highlights the need for academic institutions to promote responsible use through ethical guidelines, training programs, and awareness campaigns, which may facilitate effective integration into research practices.