## 3 Results  
RQ1: What Are Distance Learning Students' Perspectives of i-AIDA Relative to Using a p-AIDA, and Do They Change over Time as Students Gain More Experience with AI? Across the three studies 56.4% of students indicated that they would want to have an i-AIDA for their studies, 24.1% of students were neutral, and 19.7% of students disagreed with this statement. In the three studies, we specifically asked participants to self-identify through the following options: female (\(n=113\), 59.2%), male (\(n=68\), 21.5%), other (\(n=2\), 0.6%), or prefer not to say (\(n=8\), 2.5%). As indicated in Figure 3, no substantial differences were present across the three studies in terms of students' preferences for having an AIDA for their studies, nor were there any significant differences in terms of whether participants self-identified as female. Figure 2: Screenshot of dialogue with i-AIDA in Study 3. In order to further unpack this, we specifically wanted to understand what features an AIDA should have according to the students across the three studies. In terms of the most mentioned service by participants across the three studies, which we labelled as _personalisation and accessibility_, most participants expressed a desire that the AIDA would need to be personalised to their needs and learning approaches. Furthermore, most students wanted the AIDA to provide _real-time assistance and query resolution_ for academic questions and guidance, as illustrated in Table 2. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Study 1**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Study 2**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Study 3**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Eta**} \\  & **M** & **SD** & **M** & **SD** & **M** & **SD** & **F-Value** & **Eta** \\ \hline _Personalisation and Accessibility:_ The AIDA is personalised to individual needs and learning approaches, including those with disabilities or specific learning requirements. _Real-time Assistance and Query Resolution:_ The AIDA provides 24/7 support for academic queries and guidance. _Support for Academic Tasks:_ The AIDA assists with academic activities like summarizing key points from study materials, helping with grammar and writing, and offering study resources. _Emotional and Social Support_: The AIDA provides emotional support or motivation if needed, especially in the context of distance learning or for students with social anxieties. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Study 1, N = 8; Study 2, N = 96; Study 3, N = 212; \(\alpha\) = 0.880. Items from [15].  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Four services that students anticipate an AI digital assistant should provide to support teaching and learning. Figure 3: Students who would like an i-AIDA for their studies. Similar patterns emerged from participants across the three studies where participants found it important that the AIDA would be personalised to their own needs and experiences in a 24/7 support manner. The _support for academic tasks_ was the third most expected service by students, while there were more mixed expectations for _emotional and social support_. No significant differences were found using ANOVAs between the three studies on these four services, indicating that students on average had similar expectations of the AIDA, and that these did not change over time. Five potential concerns about making an AIDA available to students were identified, as shown in Table 3: academic integrity, data privacy, operational challenges, ethical and social challenges, and future of education. Most participants were concerned about _academic integrity_, the potential misuse of AI by students for completing assignments, and potential plagiarism, which is in line with other recent survey studies [8; 12]. The second highest concern was data _privacy and use_, and how data from students are used, stored, and shared. Across the three studies, participants had similar levels of concerns, and no significant differences using ANOVA were found across the three studies, indicating that similar trends emerged.