Challenges and Coping Strategies of Graduate Students in Using AI Assisted Tools for Academic Work

Graduate education increasingly incorporates artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted tools to aid academic tasks; however, their rising use also brings challenges concerning accuracy, critical thinking, and responsible application. This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the difficulties, coping mechanisms, and applications of AI-assisted tools among 13 graduate students chosen through purposive sampling. Data collection involved individual semi-structured online interviews, and thematic analysis was employed for data examination. The study identified several challenges, such as inaccurate or misleading information, excessive reliance on AI, diminished critical thinking, technical and connectivity problems, misinterpretation of prompts, biased or hallucinated outputs, and language and contextual constraints. To address these issues, participants verified AI generated information with trustworthy sources, employed critical thinking, refined their prompts, adapted to technical challenges, continuously enhanced their AI-related skills, and viewed AI as a supportive tool rather than a substitute for their knowledge and effort. Participants frequently utilized AI for generating ideas and brainstorming, content creation and instructional support, research and information retrieval, assessment development, writing and language improvement, learning support, boosting productivity, and improving task efficiency. The findings indicate that AI-assisted tools can offer valuable support for graduate-level academic work when paired with thorough verification, critical evaluation, ethical awareness, and responsible human judgment. This research underscores the necessity of preserving originality, academic integrity, and independent thinking while using AI to augment rather than replace students’ intellectual engagement and scholarly endeavors.