AI's Impact on Higher Education Accountability

AI Avatars and Student Competence

The AI avatar strengthened students' confidence and sense of accountability by scaffolding understanding, clarifying tasks, and providing structured guidance. This support is crucial for managing complex academic tasks.

• "Yes, it did, AI kept me accountable with regard to seeing deadlines and meeting my deadlines.”
• "Yes. When pop-up questions appeared, I would question if I really understood the work, and so it made me accountable."

Conversely, some students felt out of their depth or became overly reliant on the tool, potentially undermining competence development.

• "No, I felt it made me lazy and dependent upon it."
• "I felt out of my depth"

AI Avatars and Student Relatedness

Relatedness was the least consistently supported dimension. While some felt an interactive learning experience, others highlighted a distinct lack of authentic social connection.

• "Yes, it created a more interactive learning experi-ence."
• "Not entirely, it would be better if the AI avatar would send notifications/reminders to students."

Many students emphasized the absence of genuine human connection and feeling disconnected.

• "There was no human connection."
• "I felt disconnected in the learning experience."

Self-Determination Theory and Accountability in AI

The findings indicate that the AI avatar influenced accountability primarily through supporting autonomy and competence. Students reported greater ownership and improved confidence, aligning with SDT's claim that motivation becomes self-endorsed when these needs are met.

However, these benefits were not universal, and relatedness emerged as the least supported dimension. The study highlights that self-determined accountability requires complementing AI support with meaningful human interaction from educators and peers.