What Makes the Ideal AI Collaborator? Exploring Student and Teacher Perspectives on Roles, Support, and Challenges

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in educational settings has gained increasing attention, but less in collaborative learning environments. The roles that AI can play and its perceived impact on learning remain unexplored in students-AI collaborative learning. This study investigates the expected roles, supports, and challenges of AI in group learning from the perspectives of undergraduate students and teachers. A total of 27 participants, including 15 students and 12 instructors, were purposefully selected. The findings reveal that students view AI as a learning companion, expecting it to assist in idea generation, task collaboration, and social interaction. They also anticipate AI to act as a patient tutor, providing learning support during task execution. Teachers, on the other hand, believe that AI can complement human instructors, enabling flexible, collaborative teaching and personalized learning experiences. However, both students and teachers identified a lack of systematic curriculum guidance and socio-emotional support from AI as significant challenges. Students expressed dissatisfaction with AI’s mechanical language style and emotional shortcoming, which affected the collaborative experience. Overall, the study highlights the potential advantages and barriers of AI in group learning, offering insights for improving AI integration in educational settings.