Title: Navigating Student Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in First-Year Academic Writing at a South African University

Name of presenter: Lutasha Abrahams-Ndesi

Affiliation and academic title: Senior lecturer, University of the Western Cape (UWC), Cape Town, South Africa, Dr

Email address: lndesi@uwc.ac.za

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Keywords: artificial intelligence, academic writing, academic integrity, student voice, AI ethics

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Abstract:

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) rapidly continues to impact the facilitation of academic writing among students with the aim of enabling student success for increased throughput rates at universities. This is the case for many academic institutions in South Africa where varying factors, such as, unequal socio-economic circumstances, absence of critical resources, cultural capital and educational disparities compound this challenge. Moreover, this specific challenge is exacerbated by major ethical ramifications regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in academia, particularly among first time entry students into South African universities. The increasing availability of AI tools in higher education has created new opportunities for learning while simultaneously raising concerns regarding academic integrity, ethics and authorship. This paper presents a qualitative case study from a South African university that explores first-year students’ reliance on AI for academic writing despite explicit instructions to submit original work. A handwritten reflection activity conducted in the early weeks of the semester served as an unintentional diagnostic tool for identifying discrepancies between students’ original writing and AI enabled drafts. The incident illuminates student motivations for AI reliance, including time pressure, workload, and low academic writing self-efficacy. It further demonstrates the significance of an institutional environment lacking clear AI policy guidance. Findings underscore the necessity of shifting from punitive responses and instead, adopting developmental, literacy-oriented approaches that foster ethical reasoning and help students cultivate confidence in their own academic voices. The case supports the argument that universities must explicitly teach ethical AI use and integrate AI literacy into first-year curricula to ensure responsible academic engagement in an evolving technological landscape. Learning opportunities are created for both students and lecturers, emphasising that ethical AI use must be taught and facilitated, not assumed, to enable the utilisation of critical cognition to ensure student’s authentic voices remain central to academic success.