College students’ literacy, ChatGPT activities, educational outcomes, and trust from a digital divide perspective

This study investigates the association of socioeconomic status (SES) and digital and AI literacy with types of Chat GPT use by college students, with subsequent implications for academic self-efficacy and creativity, conditioned by trust. Analyses of a survey of U.S. college students (N = 947) show that SES has a greater association with AI literacy than with general digital literacy. Two dimensions of Chat GPT activities emerge: academic support and displacement. Structural equation modeling reveals that AI literacy is positively associated with both activity dimensions, while digital literacy is unexpectedly a negative contributor. Further, academic support is strongly linked to positive outcomes whereas academic displacement is negatively associated. Attitudinal trust in Chat GPT moderates the overall relationships. Our findings suggest that conventional digital inequality persists and evolves with generative AI, traditional digital literacy becomes insufficient in the age of AI, and trust in this new and opaque digital technology influences these relationships.