doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2025.15.6.1268
The Impact of AI Assistance on the Quality of Undergraduate Graduation Design: An Empirical Study Based on Counterfactual Inference
Honghe Shi
,
Bin Duan
*
- School of Automation and Electronic Information, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, China
- Manuscript received May 30, 2025
- accepted August 11, 2025
- published December 25, 2025
Abstract
Generative AI is rapidly penetrating higher education, and its net effect on the quality of undergraduate graduation theses remains controversial. This study aims to estimate the net causal effect of AI-assisted writing on the grades of undergraduate graduation theses. The research collected the thesis scoring and questionnaire data of 120 undergraduate students in a certain university. A counterfactual framework with propensity score matching was adopted and supplemented by semi-structured interviews with 10 students. The results showed that the average score of the graduation project of students using AI tools increased by approximately 5.75 points (<i>p</i> < 0.01). Interviews show that AI can enhance writing efficiency and standardization, but there is a risk of over-reliance. Colleges and universities should enhance the training of AI literacy and academic integrity to give full play to its value and avoid potential risks.
Keywords
- AI-assisted writing
- propensity score matching
- counterfactual inference
- undergraduate graduation thesis
How to Cite
Honghe Shi and Bin Duan, "The Impact of AI Assistance on the Quality of Undergraduate Graduation Design: An Empirical Study Based on Counterfactual Inference," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 217-222, 2025. https://doi.org/ 10.18178/ijssh.2025.15.6.1268
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).