Overview
- The three-year survey from American University’s Kogod School of Business, released this week, tracked 483 business students and found more than 80% had used generative AI for academic work in the past six months and regular use rose from about 6% to 29% over the study period.
- Nearly a third of respondents reported using AI 11 or more times per week for school, internships, or work in 2026, up sharply from single-digit use earlier in the survey window.
- Employers are increasingly testing for AI skills in hiring, with the share of interviews that included AI-related questions climbing from roughly 12% to about 43% over three years.
- Students mainly use AI for brainstorming, summarizing and finding sources and report using multiple platforms with ChatGPT widely preferred and high reported use of Perplexity and Anthropic’s Claude.
- Campus responses vary as some faculty ban AI while others build responsible-use lessons into courses, and students say they want structured, ethics-focused and practical training to avoid integrity problems and preserve independent thinking.