Beyond Performance: AI Psychological Empowerment in Cross-Cultural Education 超越绩效：跨文化教育中的人工智能心理赋能

Abstract  摘要

This study investigates artificial intelligence (AI) psychological empowerment in education, examining how AI tools enhance students' sense of competence, autonomy, and engagement beyond the effects of material empowerment (e.g., task performance improvements). Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared Chinese domestic students in China and Chinese international students in Australia to assess whether AI psychological empowerment is both tangible and more impactful than material empowerment. We highlight several nuanced ways AI fosters personal growth and self-perception. Our findings reveal that, while AI material empowerment is beneficial, psychological empowerment has a stronger influence on motivation and self-perception, particularly for international students compared to local students, despite both groups completing the same English writing task. These results suggest that AI's role in education extends beyond traditional material support, offering transformative psychological empowerment that enhances students' confidence in academic contexts. This empowerment reasonably translates into greater personal adaptability and, ultimately, personal growth. The study contributes to the growing literature on AI in education, providing insights for scholars, educators, and policymakers seeking to leverage AI for holistic student development. Notably, generative AI (GAI) emerges as a critical tool for cultural and linguistic adaptation, particularly for immigrant students navigating foreign academic systems. Furthermore, the psychological empowerment effects of GAI appear to be context-dependent, with stronger impacts observed in students facing greater cultural or linguistic barriers. These findings emphasize AI's potential to foster personal growth and resilience across diverse learning contexts. Finally, we recommend that educational policies and practices be tailored to leverage GAI for immigrant populations, paving the way for more equitable educational opportunities.
本研究探讨了教育中人工智能（AI）心理赋能，考察了 AI 工具如何在提升学生的能力感、自主性和参与度方面，超越物质赋能（如任务表现提升）的效果。通过准实验设计，我们比较了中国境内的中国学生与澳大利亚的中国留学生，以评估 AI 心理赋能是否既具体又比物质赋能更具影响力。我们强调了 AI 促进个人成长和自我认知的若干细微方式。研究结果显示，尽管 AI 物质赋能有益，但心理赋能对动机和自我认知的影响更强，尤其是在国际学生中相比本地学生更为显著，尽管两组均完成了相同的英语写作任务。这些结果表明，AI 在教育中的作用超越了传统的物质支持，提供了变革性的心理赋能，增强了学生在学术环境中的自信心。这种赋能合理地转化为更强的个人适应能力，最终促进个人成长。 本研究为日益增长的教育领域人工智能文献做出贡献，为学者、教育工作者和政策制定者提供了利用人工智能促进学生全面发展的见解。值得注意的是，生成式人工智能（GAI）作为文化和语言适应的重要工具，尤其对在异国学术体系中求学的移民学生具有重要意义。此外，GAI 的心理赋能效应似乎依赖于具体情境，在面临更大文化或语言障碍的学生中表现出更强的影响力。这些发现强调了人工智能在多样化学习环境中促进个人成长和韧性的潜力。最后，我们建议教育政策和实践应针对移民群体量身定制，充分利用 GAI，为实现更公平的教育机会铺平道路。

Received: 7 November 2024 | Revised: 28 February 2025| Accepted: 4 June 2025
收到日期：2024 年 11 月 7 日 | 修订日期：2025 年 2 月 28 日 | 接受日期：2025 年 6 月 4 日

Conflicts of Interest  利益冲突声明

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.
作者声明本研究不存在任何利益冲突。

Data Availability Statement
数据可用性声明

The data that support this work are available upon reasonable request to the 
支持本研究的数据可根据合理请求向

corresponding author.  通讯作者提供。

Author Contribution Statement
作者贡献声明

Yingnan Shi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization. Astrid Tong Xu: Validation, Data curation, Writing - review & editing, Visualization.
石英楠：概念构思、方法学、正式分析、调查、原始稿件撰写、审稿与编辑、可视化。许桐雅：验证、数据管理、审稿与编辑、可视化。