Faculty Attitudes toward the Implementation and Risks of ChatGPT in Iraqi Universities

Abstract

     The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of faculty members at the University of Al-Qadisiyah toward the potentials and risks of using the ChatGPT application in scientific research. The researcher employed the descriptive survey method and developed a tool titled “Faculty Attitudes Scale toward the Application and Risks of ChatGPT in Scientific Research and Education.” The scale consisted of 30 items distributed over two dimensions: the potentials of applying ChatGPT and its risks. The instrument was administered to a stratified random sample of 120 faculty members from various scientific and humanities colleges.

The results indicated that faculty members’ attitudes were generally negative, as they believed that the risks of using ChatGPT—such as plagiarism, undermining academic integrity, and information inaccuracy—outweigh its potentials, such as assisting in idea formulation, language editing, and accelerating the process of writing research proposals.

Furthermore, the findings revealed statistically significant differences in attitudes attributed to academic specialization (in favor of scientific fields), while no significant differences were found based on academic rank or gender. In light of these results, the study presented several recommendations, most notably the need for universities to establish policies and ethical frameworks regulating the use of generative AI tools in scientific research.