Generative artificial intelligence among biochemistry and pharmacy students: trust without responsible use practices

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70577/n6y12k64

Keywords:

generative artificial intelligence, responsible use, academic integrity, trust in artificial intelligence, Biochemistry and Pharmacy, higher education

Abstract

The expansion of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has transformed study practices in higher education, raising critical ethical challenges in health sciences due to the strict need for source verification. Objective: To analyze the relationship between the weekly frequency of GenAI use, responsible use practices, and student trust in these tools for completing academic tasks among Biochemistry and Pharmacy students. Methodology: A quantitative, non-experimental, and cross-sectional study was conducted with 200 students at a public Ecuadorian university (Bioquimica... p. 2). A validated 17-item Likert-scale questionnaire was administered, deriving the Adoption and Perceived Utility Index (APUI) and the Responsible Use and Citation Index (RUCI). Inferential analysis involved Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney tests, and multiple linear regression. Results: A higher weekly frequency of use was significantly associated with greater trust to complete tasks without additional verification (\ (H = 12.180\); \ (p = 0.007\)). Conversely, responsible use practices did not show differences across levels of use (\ (H = 0.602\); \(p = 0.896\)) (Bioquimica... p. 2). In the multivariable analysis, APUI was the only factor significantly associated with such trust (\(\beta = 0.840\); \(p < 0.001\)). General conclusion: Frequent exposure to GenAI enhances trust driven by perceived usefulness rather than responsible criteria, highlighting an urgent need for institutional strategies based on active human supervision and Human-in-the-Loop approaches

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alsharefeen, R., & Al Sayari, N. (2025). Examining academic integrity policy and practice in the era of AI: A case study of faculty perspectives. Frontiers in Education, 10, Article 1621743. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1621743 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1621743

Chan, C. K. Y., & Hu, W. (2023). Students’ voices on generative AI: Perceptions, benefits, and challenges in higher education. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(1), Article 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00411-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00411-8

Dabis, A., & Csaki, C. (2024). AI and ethics: Investigating the first policy responses of higher education institutions to the challenge of generative AI. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, Article 1006. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03526-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03526-z

Divekar, R. R., Guerra, S., Gonzalez, L., Boos, N., & Zhou, H. (2025). Exploring undercurrents of learning tensions in an LLM-enhanced landscape: A student-centered qualitative perspective on LLM vs Search. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.02622 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_48

Karkoulian, S., Sayegh, N., & Sayegh, N. (2024). ChatGPT unveiled: Understanding perceptions of academic integrity in higher education: A qualitative approach. Journal of Academic Ethics, 23, 1171–1188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-024-09543-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-024-09543-6

Kasneci, E., Sessler, K., Küchemann, S., Bannert, M., Dementieva, D., Fischer, F., Gasser, U., Groh, G., Günnemann, S., Hüllermeier, E., Krusche, S., Kutyniok, G., Michaeli, T., Nerdel, C., Pfeffer, J., Poquet, O., Sailer, M., Schmidt, A., Seidel, T., Stadler, M., Weller, J., Kuhn, J., & Kasneci, G. (2023). ChatGPT for good? On opportunities and challenges of large language models for education. Learning and Individual Differences, 103, Article 102274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102274 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102274

Kondoro, A. M. (2025). AI writing assistants in Tanzanian universities: Adoption trends, challenges, and opportunities. In Proceedings of the Fourth Workshop on Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants (In2Writing 2025) (pp. 37–46). Association for Computational Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2025.in2writing-1.4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2025.in2writing-1.4

Naqvi, W. M., Ganjoo, R., Rowe, M., Pashine, A. A., & Mishra, G. V. (2025). Critical thinking in the age of generative AI: Implications for health sciences education. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 8, Article 1571527. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2025.1571527 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2025.1571527

Organización Panamericana de la Salud. (2024a). Roadmap for the digital transformation of the health sector in the Region of the Americas: Progress report. https://www.paho.org/en/documents/cd61inf10-b-roadmap-digital-transformation-health-sector-region-americas-progress-report

Organización Panamericana de la Salud. (2024b). Artificial intelligence in public health. https://iris.paho.org/items/4d726cb0-0845-4a37-8055-61377f5c0ee4

Qian, Y. (2025). Pedagogical applications of generative AI in higher education: A systematic review of the field. TechTrends, 69, 1105–1120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-025-01100-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-025-01100-1

Sallam, M. (2023). ChatGPT utility in healthcare education, research, and practice: Systematic review on the promising perspectives and valid concerns. Healthcare, 11(6), Article 887. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060887 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060887

Organización Mundial de la Salud. (2021). Ethics and governance of artificial intelligence for health. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240029200Organización Mundial de la Salud. (2025). Ethics and governance of artificial intelligence for health: Guidance on large multi-modal models. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240084759

Younis, H. A., Eisa, T. A. E., Nasser, M., Sahib, T. M., Noor, A. A., Alyasiri, O. M., Salisu, S., Hayder, I. M., Younis, H. A., & Younis, H. A.-K. (2024). A systematic review and meta-analysis of artificial intelligence tools in medicine and healthcare: Applications, considerations, limitations, motivation and challenges. Diagnostics, 14(1), Article 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14010109 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14010109

Downloads

Published

2026-07-08

How to Cite

Generative artificial intelligence among biochemistry and pharmacy students: trust without responsible use practices. (2026). Salud Medicina E Innovación Journal, 4(3.1), 490-511. https://doi.org/10.70577/n6y12k64

Similar Articles

1-10 of 36

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.