More Than a Tool: Undergraduate Tourism Students' Lived Experiences of Co-Creating Knowledge With Generative AI In Project-Based Learning

Abstract

The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education is progressing, but few studies to date focus on undergraduate students’ perceptions of AI as a co-creator of discipline-specific knowledge. In the construction of curriculum and responsible AI use, knowledge pertaining to these dynamics is important in tourism education, where project-based learning (PBL) is the framework. The existing body of research has predominantly interpreted AI as an advanced tool; employed quantitative approaches, and entirely neglected students’ perspectives. The present study was grounded in Kolb’s theory of experiential learning and focused on the lived experiences of 125 undergraduate tourism students from four universities in the UK, each of whom completed a project-based assignment in a GenAI integrated PBL context. The data generated through semi-structured interviews (lasting between 60 and 90 minutes) yielded four super-ordinate themes: The Paradox of Partnership (AI as cognitive extension versus inscrutable other), Epistemic Tension (difficulty in critical evaluation of fluent outputs), The Vulnerability of Not Knowing (anxiety and shame when exposed to knowledge gaps), and Emergent Identity as AI-Augmented Professional (reconceptualizing professional selves through human–AI partnerships). The presence or absence of prior AI exposure, degree of specialization, and academic year led to multiple distinctions (and at times, contradictions) in the findings. The study represents a large-scale phenomenological exploration of the dynamics of human–AI co-creation of knowledge in a PBL context, broadens Kolb’s theoretical lens with respect to AI-assisted learning, and presents a variety of considerations concerning teaching, assessment, and academic integrity. The findings illustrate the need to foster student preparedness to engage in partnership (substitutive) roles alongside advanced technologies.