The double-edged sword of artificial intelligence: Gifted college students’ use of ChatGPT in academic writing
Contemporary Educational Technology, vol.18, no.2, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 18 Issue: 2
- Publication Date: 2026
- Doi Number: 10.30935/cedtech/17984
- Journal Name: Contemporary Educational Technology
- Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Education Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Keywords: academic writing, academically gifted, ChatGPT, college students, gifted
- Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
- Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
The introduction of artificial intelligence-powered large language models has revolutionized academic writing and transformed conventional practices into richer experiences, which has opened new avenues for brainstorming, drafting, and revising written work. This study examined how academically gifted college students used ChatGPT in academic writing. The participants were nine academically gifted students enrolled in a freshman English course at a tier-one public university in Türkiye. To examine the purposes and stages of use, we subjected students’ ChatGPT conversations to content analysis. Drawing on 52 chat prompts and a structured focus group, we mapped when and why gifted students deployed ChatGPT across planning, drafting, and revision. The findings identified several potential contributions (i.e., efficiency, adaptability, and incidental learning) and risks (i.e., integrity, reliability, originality, and dependence) of using the large language model tools, informing AI literacy, and assessment design in higher education.