As generative AI is becoming more integrated into our society, students are uneasy about the future, and professors have been at the forefront of making policy decisions about generative AI’s place in academics. The goal of this project is to explore student opinion about AI to ensure that students have a voice in policy discussions. Data are from the 2025 Eau Claire Longitudinal Student Survey, in which a random sample of 215 UWEC undergraduates were asked about generative AI, its place in academics, policies, social acceptance, and benefits. Results show that positive and negative views of AI are made up of clusters of interrelated beliefs, attitudes, and experiences with AI, including social acceptance and how useful and important they view it. Opinion appears to be shaped by major and political ideology, with liberals and arts and humanities majors on one end of the continuum and conservatives and business majors on the other, with moderates and other majors in the middle. We conclude that policies should differ between faculty to reflect the needs of students’ futures in their fields and that professors need to prioritize communication with students about student preferences and ethical AI use.
