EthicsBiasAccountabilitycs.CY
Student views in AI Ethics and Social Impact
Tudor-Dan Mihoc, Manuela-Andreea Petrescu, Emilia-Loredana Pop
March 19, 2026
International Conference on Computer Supported Education
Key Takeaways
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Students recognize AI's broad societal reach: The 230 surveyed computer science students identified medicine, education, and media as areas where AI will significantly impact daily life, indicating awareness that AI applications extend far beyond technical domains.
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Gender differences in AI risk perception exist: Men showed greater awareness of autonomous driving, image/video processing, and military applications (drones, information warfare), while women were more concerned about social media impacts and demonstrated "a stronger tendency towards ethical considerations and helping others."
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Ethical awareness should inform AI education: The study suggests that students' varying perspectives on AI's social impact—particularly the gender-based differences in ethical focus—could shape how AI is taught in the future, implying that curriculum design should account for diverse ethical viewpoints.
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Women may bring important ethical perspectives to AI development: The finding that women show stronger ethical consideration tendencies suggests that increasing female participation in AI fields could help ensure responsible AI development that prioritizes societal welfare alongside technical innovation.
Abstract
An investigation, from a gender perspective, of how students view the ethical implications and societal effects of artificial intelligence is conducted, examining concepts that could have a big influence on how artificial intelligence may be taught in the future. For this, we conducted a survey on a cohort of 230 second year computer science students to reveal their opinions. The results revealed that AI, from the students' perspective, will significantly impact daily life, particularly in areas such as medicine, education, or media. Men are more aware of potential changes in Computer Science, autonomous driving, image and video processing, and chatbot usage, while women mention more the impact on social media. Both men and women perceive potential threats in the same manner, with men more aware of war, AI controlled drones, terrain recognition, and information war. Women seem to have a stronger tendency towards ethical considerations and helping others.