Becoming Artificially Intelligent: Student Perspectives on AI-enabled Success and Guanxi in Higher Education

Abstract

This study examines how Chinese postgraduate students navigate academic success in the context of artificial intelligence (AI), with particular attention to the role of guanxi, the cultural logic of relational advantage, in shaping AI use. Set within a Sino-British university, the research explores how students engage with AI technologies for idea generation, learning support, and academic writing, and how these practices reflect broader social values and concerns. A mixed-methods design was employed to gather both quantitative and qualitative data from 103 Chinese postgraduate students. Data collection involved structured surveys, focus group seminars, ethnographic classroom observations, and an online discussion forum. Thematic analysis, guided by grounded theory principles, enabled an inductive reading of students’ perspectives, while triangulation across data sources enhanced validity. Findings reveal that students express ambivalence toward subtler AI uses, including planning, paraphrasing, and polishing text. Many acknowledged that AI could lead to superficial indicators of success and raised concerns about an emerging “illusion of competence”. Yet, few connected these practices to long-term academic growth or career trajectories. Notably, some students framed AI as a relational tool, an extension of digital guanxi, leveraged to maintain competitiveness in a high-pressure academic environment. The study argues that universities should shift from narrow, compliance-driven responses to AI towards more culturally informed, dialogic approaches. Promoting responsible and reflective student–AI partnerships may better prepare learners for ethical engagement in an AI-mediated academic and professional landscape.

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