2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This research aims to evaluate the current student generation’s proficiency in generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage and explores whether student-AI interaction, broadly defined as how students use AI tools to learn and complete tasks, can serve as an instructional tool to assess competence in technical Industrial Engineering (IE) domains. This work-in-progress paper, as part of this research, presents findings from activities implemented in three graduate level IE courses, Design of Experiments, Lean Six Sigma and Quality Analysis, during the Fall 2024 term and addresses lessons learned from challenges encountered.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, centers on the integration of advanced digital technologies in manufacturing and the service sector. Its goal is to enhance connectivity across the value chain, improving efficiency, quality, sustainability, customer experience and cost reduction. Although Industry 4.0 implementation is progressing rapidly, engineering education, including IE, has lagged in updating curricula to align with these developments. Simultaneously, Industry 5.0 is emerging, emphasizing deeper collaboration between humans and machines, with AI playing a pivotal role beyond automation and data analysis which are the core aspects of Industry 4.0.

Within these transformations, generative AI, a subset of machine learning, has gained significant attention due to its rapid advancement, accessibility, and potential to reshape thinking, learning and problem solving. Generative AI is also at the forefront of discussions in higher education including its potential uses in and beyond the classroom. Initially, the focus was primarily on preventing students from using generative AI tools, but attention is now shifting toward integrating these tools into teaching and learning. Many educators are exploring ways to incorporate generative AI into instruction.

Students are often assumed to be tech-savvy. With the widespread use of tools like ChatGPT, they may also be perceived as competent users of generative AI. However, effectively using AI for learning requires more than just basic digital literacy, which can impact both the learning experience and its benefit. Therefore, studying students’ interactions with AI is important, as the findings will shape how generative AI tools should be introduced and utilized in education.

This study was built on evaluating these interactions to determine whether today’s students are equipped with this proficiency, enabling instructors to integrate generative AI as a tool for knowledge and skills assessment in technical domains.

Initial findings indicate widespread use of generative AI among students but lack of proficiency to utilize it effectively for learning. Future work will compare these findings with results obtained after implementing guided learning templates designed to help students critically evaluate and effectively apply generative AI tools.