Artificial Intelligence in Academia: Assessing Copyright Awareness and Ethical Usage Among Tanzanian University Students

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between copyright
awareness and the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
tools in academic settings among students at Mzumbe
University (Mbeya Campus College), Tanzania. With AI
technologies such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, and Turnitin
becoming increasingly integrated into research and academic
writing, concerns over academic integrity and copyright
compliance have gained prominence. Using a quantitative
research approach, data were collected from undergraduate
students through structured questionnaires, targeting third
year students across four academic programs. The findings
reveal a high level of AI awareness (81.3%) but comparatively
low adoption (23%), with most students utilizing AI tools
primarily for grammar correction, reference management,
and plagiarism detection. However, statistical analysis
indicates a significant gap in students' understanding of
copyright laws, with mean scores for copyright awareness and
ethical AI use both falling below 2.5 on a 5-point Likert scale.
Pearson correlation results further reveal negative
associations between perceived AI usefulness/ease of use and
ethical practices, while copyright awareness positively
correlates with ethical AI use. The study concludes that
despite recognizing the benefits of AI, students lack sufficient
legal and ethical knowledge regarding its use.
Recommendations include integrating digital ethics into
curricula, institutional policy development, and training
programs to foster responsible and lawful AI adoption in
higher education