1. Behavioral Persona: “Over-reliant AI User”
Across our research, we observed a consistent pattern among some students, taking difficult courses and handling other responsibilities — sometimes there just isn’t enough time. When coursework felt ambiguous or difficult to approach independently, these students turned to LLMs as their first step to have a certain answer and reduce uncertainty. AI offered immediate answers and confirmation in moments where traditional resources (office hours, classmates, Youtube videos) felt unhelpful. As a result, homework increasingly became a task to complete using a shortcut, which is satisfying in the short term but has long-term negative effects.
2. Journey Map of “Over-reliant AI User”
This journey map shows how this persona typically uses LLMs from the moment they open their assignment, to the future consequences. It unpacks their actions, as well as their emotions, thoughts, and insights throughout the process. A key takeaway is that these students don’t intend to “take the easy way out”, nor are they “just lazy”. Rather, the behavior is rationally driven by uncertainty and time pressure. As one participant explained, “Out of ten [LLM outputs], if nine are correct and one is wrong, that’s fine. The time it would take to cross-check everything doesn’t feel worth it to me.” The persona accepts AI output once it feels “good enough” and moves on, valuing speed and momentum over verification. This student even described LLMs as a default place to go when they have a question, and they did not see an issue with being dependent on it. In the short term, this workflow feels efficient and satisfying that they’re getting stuff done, but the journey map shows how the lack of reflection or engagement comes back to bite them once it is exam season.
