University Students’ Attitude Toward AI: A Validation of the AI Attitude Scale (AIAS-4) in a Large Norwegian Student Sample

Abstract

Identifying valid and reliable instruments measuring attitudes toward Artificial Intelligence (AI) and examining potential attitudinal gaps are becoming increasingly important as they may inform ethical and appropriate development, adoption, and regulation of AI technologies. In this cross-sectional study, we validated the AI Attitude Scale (AIAS-4) in a large sample of Norwegian university students (n=2329). Using confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s Omega, we found the AIAS-4 to be both valid and reliable. Further, through multiple regression analysis, we identified the students’ gender, age, and study discipline to be significant predictors of positive attitudes toward AI technology in our sample. Men were more positive than women and students between 21 and 25 were more positive than students under 21 and students over 25 years. Also, as a novel discovery, we found that the students from the faculty of engineering and natural sciences were more positive than students from the faculty of health sciences and from the faculty of teacher education, culture, and sports, but not significantly more positive than students from the faculty of economics and social sciences. Our findings are discussed in light of previous research and contribute new knowledge to the field of AI in higher education.

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