AI Usage Among Princeton’s Class of 2029
The recent Frosh Survey by The Daily Princetonian reveals that nearly half of Princeton's Class of 2029 utilized AI in their college essays, with 88% reporting some form of AI usage. While Princeton supports AI research and development, it advises caution in its use, particularly in admissions essays, highlighting a gap between university expectations and student behavior.
Despite the rise in AI tool popularity, sentiments among the Class of 2029 are mixed. Some students embrace AI, while others remain cautious about its implications.
Views on AI among the freshmen are varied, with about 40% finding it useful in certain cases and 20% considering it dangerous. Among humanities majors, 48.7% view AI as dangerous, whereas only 21.7% of engineering students share this view. Instead, 73.1% of engineering students see AI as either useful or revolutionary.
AI usage in college essays is prevalent, with 47.7% of the Class of 2029 using at least one AI tool. Grammarly Free is the most popular, used by 47.4% of students, followed by ChatGPT at 15.8%, and 29% using multiple tools.
The Office of the Dean for Research provides certain research and writing tools, excluding Grammarly and ChatGPT, offering only Microsoft Copilot Chat. Other tools are under evaluation.
Princeton values academic integrity, maintained through its Honor System. Most freshmen claimed not to have cheated in high school, with 19% admitting to it and 15.4% involving AI. Despite knowing peers who cheated, 65.5% did not report them, contradicting the Honor Code's emphasis on reporting violations.
Of the surveyed freshmen, 12% have never used AI, while others have used it for various purposes. Among humanities majors, 25.8% have never used AI, compared to only 6% of engineering majors. Engineering students frequently use AI for coding, with 38.7% doing so. Recreational use is common, with 59% using AI for tasks like recipe creation or trip planning. Social science students reported the highest AI use for administrative tasks.
AI is more prevalent among prospective engineering majors, while humanities majors are more cautious. Nonetheless, AI has become an integral part of academic life at Princeton.