Understanding How International Students in the U.S. Are Using Conversational AI to Support Cross-Cultural Adaptation

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2605.15127v1
• Date: Thu, 14 May 2026 17:37:23 GMT
• Title: Understanding How International Students in the U.S. Are Using Conversational AI to Support Cross-Cultural Adaptation
• Abstract summary: In the US, international students face unique challenges, yet the current support ecosystem remains largely fragmented.<n>While conversational AI has emerged as a tool used by many, we do not have a clear understanding of how international students adopt and perceive these technologies as support tools.<n>Our findings show that AI is perceived as a first-aid tool for immediate challenges, however, there is an interest in transforming AI from a tool for short-term help into a long-term support companion.
• Score: 13.785807045440917
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Moving to a new culture and adapting to a new life, as an international student, can be a stressful experience. In the US, international students face unique overlapping challenges, yet the current support ecosystem, including university support systems and informal social networks, remains largely fragmented. While conversational AI has emerged as a tool used by many (e.g., generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini), we do not have a clear understanding of how international students adopt and perceive these technologies as support tools. We conducted a survey study (n=60) to map the relationship between international students' challenges and AI adoption patterns, followed by an interview study with 14 participants to identify the underlying motivations and boundaries of use. Our findings show that AI is perceived as a first-aid tool for immediate challenges, however, there is an interest in transforming AI from a tool for short-term help into a long-term support companion. By identifying where and how AI can provide long-term support, and where it is insufficient, we contribute recommendations for creating AI-powered support tailored to the unique needs of international students.

Related papers

• Characterizing initial human-AI proof formalization workflows [66.06866890889131]
  Advances in AI systems' ability to generate code and engage in increasingly high-level mathematical reasoning promise to transform people's ability to formalize and thereby verify proofs.<n>We conduct a mixed-methods analysis into the initial impact of AI on people's formalization.<n>A qualitative survey shows that people's preferences are diverse, but with a general desire for AI assistance in formalization.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-06-02T22:58:19Z)
• Unpacking Vibe Coding: Help-Seeking Processes in Student-AI Interactions While Programming [1.3802799822705387]
  Generative AI is reshaping higher education programming through vibe coding, where students collaborate with AI via natural language.<n>We analyze 19,418 interaction turns from 110 undergraduate students to compare top- and low-performing students.<n>Results reveal that top performers engaged in instrumental help-seeking, eliciting tutor-like AI responses.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-04-29T19:35:10Z)
• Towards an AI Buddy for every University Student? Exploring Students' Experiences, Attitudes and Motivations towards AI and AI-based Study Companions [4.16108684206315]
  This study investigates students' prior experiences with AI tools, their perceived digital and AI-related competences, and their interest in emerging technologies.<n>Based on a survey of 926 students at a Swiss university, students revealed widespread prior use of AI, primarily for text-based and productivity tasks, with moderate self-assessed digital competence.<n>Students expressed strong enthusiasm for adopting an AI Buddy, valuing its potential for time efficiency, personalized academic support, and study organization, but expressed significant concerns about data privacy and over-reliance.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-03-21T18:44:41Z)
• Synthetic Media in Multilingual MOOCs: Deepfake Tutors, Pedagogical Effects, and Ethical-Policy Challenges [39.146761527401424]
  This article focuses on the usage of deepfake and synthetic media tools and methods in multilingual MOOC content.<n>We assess the influence of these technologies on social presence and participation.<n>Concerns arise regarding authenticity, privacy, and the shifting nature of the teacher-learner relationship.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-02-05T15:39:15Z)
• Deploying AI for Signal Processing education: Selected challenges and intriguing opportunities [44.18936398140735]
  Article explores the use of AI tools to facilitate and enhance education.<n> Primers are provided on several core technical issues that arise when using AI in educational settings.<n>The article serves as a resource for researchers and educators seeking to advance AI's role in engineering education.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-09-10T19:19:26Z)
• Between Regulation and Accessibility: How Chinese University Students Navigate Global and Domestic Generative AI [13.558080205608668]
  This study investigates how Chinese university students interact with both global and domestic generative AIs in the learning process.<n>Findings reveal that engagement is shaped by accessibility, language proficiency, and cultural relevance.<n>It advocates for human-centered, multilingual, domestic context-sensitive AI integration to ensure equitable and inclusive digital learning environments.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-06-17T10:24:12Z)
• Longitudinal Study on Social and Emotional Use of AI Conversational Agent [12.951074799361994]
  We studied the impact of four commercially available AI tools on users' perceived attachment towards AI and AI empathy.<n>Our findings underscore the importance of developing consumer-facing AI tools that support emotional well-being responsibly.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-04-19T00:03:48Z)
• I would love this to be like an assistant, not the teacher: a voice of the customer perspective of what distance learning students want from an Artificial Intelligence Digital Assistant [0.0]
  This study examined the perceptions of ten online and distance learning students regarding the design of a hypothetical AI Digital Assistant (AIDA) All participants agreed on the usefulness of such an AI tool while studying and reported benefits from using it for real-time assistance and query resolution, support for academic tasks, personalisation and accessibility, together with emotional and social support. Students' concerns related to the ethical and social implications of implementing AIDA, data privacy and data use, operational challenges, academic integrity and misuse, and the future of education.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-02-16T08:10:41Z)
• Exploring User Perspectives on ChatGPT: Applications, Perceptions, and Implications for AI-Integrated Education [40.38809129759498]
  ChatGPT is most commonly used in the domains of higher education, K-12 education, and practical skills training. On one hand, some users view it as a transformative tool capable of amplifying student self-efficacy and learning motivation. On the other hand, there is a degree of apprehension among concerned users.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-05-22T15:13:14Z)
• Improving Grounded Language Understanding in a Collaborative Environment by Interacting with Agents Through Help Feedback [42.19685958922537]
  We argue that human-AI collaboration should be interactive, with humans monitoring the work of AI agents and providing feedback that the agent can understand and utilize. In this work, we explore these directions using the challenging task defined by the IGLU competition, an interactive grounded language understanding task in a MineCraft-like world.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-04-21T05:37:59Z)
• An Experience Report of Executive-Level Artificial Intelligence Education in the United Arab Emirates [53.04281982845422]
  We present an experience report of teaching an AI course to business executives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Rather than focusing only on theoretical and technical aspects, we developed a course that teaches AI with a view to enabling students to understand how to incorporate it into existing business processes.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-02-02T20:59:53Z)
• A User-Centred Framework for Explainable Artificial Intelligence in Human-Robot Interaction [70.11080854486953]
  We propose a user-centred framework for XAI that focuses on its social-interactive aspect. The framework aims to provide a structure for interactive XAI solutions thought for non-expert users.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-09-27T09:56:23Z)
• Building Bridges: Generative Artworks to Explore AI Ethics [56.058588908294446]
  In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis on understanding and mitigating adverse impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies on society. A significant challenge in the design of ethical AI systems is that there are multiple stakeholders in the AI pipeline, each with their own set of constraints and interests. This position paper outlines some potential ways in which generative artworks can play this role by serving as accessible and powerful educational tools.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-06-25T22:31:55Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.