Exploring the Impact of AI Tools on Academic Writing Skills: A Study of Students and Lecturers at University Level in Malaysia and China

Abstract

This study explores the impact of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools on academic writing among the university students and lecturers at the educational establishments in Malaysia and China. Employing the mixed-methods approach, the research involved the quasi-experiment and the interviews to assess the tools’ effectiveness in improving the writing quality, their limitations, and the ethical challenges they present. Quantitative results revealed the significant improvements in grammar, coherence, and overall writing performance, particularly among the students with lower baseline proficiency. Qualitative findings highlighted the disparities in AI understanding between the students and the lecturers, their concerns about overreliance, and the absence of institutional guidelines for the responsible AI use. The study integrates the Hyperpersonal Communication Theory to analyze how AI mediates and enhances the academic writing while exposing its limitations in fostering critical thinking and originality. Its findings emphasize the need for the balanced, ethical AI integration into education, offering practical recommendations for Xiamen University Malaysia and similar institutions to develop the comprehensive policies. Despite the limitations, including not big enough sample size, and the focus on the third-year undergraduate students, this research provides the valuable insights into the opportunities and challenges of AI in academic the contexts, paving the way for future studies on its long-term implications and interdisciplinary applications.