Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education institutions (HEIs) is revolutionizing the educational landscape. While there has been an increase in studies on the use of AI tools in HEIs, the lived experiences of pre-service education students remain relatively unexplored. Thus, this study explored the lived experiences of pre-service education students in the utilization of AI tools in academic writing and research, particularly profiling them as to the specific AI tools they utilized, academic tasks they performed using AI tool, and the primary purpose of the employment of AI tools; their perceptions on AI utilization, the challenges they encounter, and the level of support their institution provided. The study utilized a qualitative approach with ten (10) Bachelor of Elementary Education pre-service students, using the Atlas.ti software to analyze the data gathered. Findings revealed that pre-service education students heavily rely on AI tools, particularly ChatGPT, for research-related tasks like sourcing references, generating citations, and producing written content. They express concerns over its limitations, including issues of accuracy, academic integrity, and overdependence. Furthermore, the lack of institutional support, such as clear guidelines, monitoring, and formal training, contributes to the uncertainty and misuse of AI tools. Given these findings, higher education institutions must recognize the urgent need to establish comprehensive guidelines for AI use and provide support systems to promote ethical, critical, and effective AI integration in academic settings. Future research should adopt a mixed-methods approach to develop a more comprehensive understanding of AI use in HEIs and to inform more effective institutional strategies.
