Psychological, Behavioral, and Socio‑Demographic Factors Associated with Students’ Trust in Artificial Intelligence in the Modern Educational Environment

Abstract

The digital transformation of higher education is reshaping the established logic of educational interaction. Alongside the expansion of learning tools, issues of trust, responsibility, autonomy, and students' psychological readiness to use intelligent digital systems are becoming increasingly significant. The aim of this article is to elucidate the scientific problem of student trust in artificial intelligence (AI) by analyzing the factors that determine its manifestations in the modern educational environment. The empirical basis of the study comprises data from a comprehensive online survey involving 171 students from Russian universities, aged 17 to 36 years. A set of psychodiagnostic instruments was employed to collect empirical data, including the authors' digital experience questionnaire, the Digital Competence Index, the User Attitude towards AI Technologies Questionnaire, the Generalized Trust Scale, the Youth Trust in the Virtual Environment Questionnaire, the “Level and Types of Maladaptive Submissiveness in the Virtual Environment” Questionnaire, and the Cybervictimization Scale. It was established that student trust in AI is predominantly conditional in nature: the majority of respondents occupy an intermediate position between trust and distrust. Integrated digital competence does not emerge as a leading factor of trust in AI; more significant factors include the perception of risks and potential limitations of AI, trust in the digital environment, experience with digital tools, and the practice of verifying AI-generated responses. Gender does not play a pronounced differentiating role in students' attitudes toward AI.