Before the First Prompt: Understanding Students’ Pre‑Use Perceptions of an AI Digital Assistant in Higher Education

This paper provides a fresh analysis of data from a recent faculty-based pilot study of an AI Digital Assistant (AIDA). It reveals insights into student attitudes towards AI as they commence their university study, showing that whilst a third of new undergraduate students at The Open University (UK) come with no experience of using GenAI, they do, like others, bring expectations and understandings regarding the technology. The ubiquity of generative AI (GenAI) means that universities are no longer solely introducing students to AI but increasingly supporting students in learning to use it to develop good academic practice. A k-means cluster analysis also suggests several data-driven personas, provisionally named: Technology explorers, Studying in a second language, Younger adults, Decidedly against, Experienced and mature learners, Tentative learners. These are then enriched through analysis of open text comment using Discourse of the Collective Subject methodology. These have potential to support those communicating with students, teaching, and in developing the curriculum and in creating a better AIDA that supports personalisation in ways we have not previously managed.