The double-edged sword of artificial intelligence: Gifted college students’ use of ChatGPT in academic writing

Burçin Hasanbaşoğlu; Mustafa Baloglu

doi:10.30935/cedtech/17984

Burçin Hasanbaşoğlu ¹, Mustafa Baloglu ² ^*

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CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 18, Issue 2, Article No: ep637

https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/17984

Submitted: 29 August 2025, Published Online: 26 February 2026

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Abstract

The introduction of artificial intelligence-powered large language models has revolutionized academic writing and transformed conventional practices into richer experiences, which has opened new avenues for brainstorming, drafting, and revising written work. This study examined how academically gifted college students used ChatGPT in academic writing. The participants were nine academically gifted students enrolled in a freshman English course at a tier-one public university in Türkiye. To examine the purposes and stages of use, we subjected students’ ChatGPT conversations to content analysis. Drawing on 52 chat prompts and a structured focus group, we mapped when and why gifted students deployed ChatGPT across planning, drafting, and revision. The findings identified several potential contributions (i.e., efficiency, adaptability, and incidental learning) and risks (i.e., integrity, reliability, originality, and dependence) of using the large language model tools, informing AI literacy, and assessment design in higher education.

Keywords: ChatGPT, academically gifted, academic writing, college students, gifted

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Citation

Hasanbaşoğlu, B., & Baloglu, M. (2026). The double-edged sword of artificial intelligence: Gifted college students’ use of ChatGPT in academic writing. Contemporary Educational Technology, 18(2), Article ep637. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/17984

Hasanbaşoğlu, B., and Baloglu, M. (2026). The double-edged sword of artificial intelligence: Gifted college students’ use of ChatGPT in academic writing. Contemporary Educational Technology, 18(2), ep637. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/17984

Hasanbaşoğlu B, Baloglu M. The double-edged sword of artificial intelligence: Gifted college students’ use of ChatGPT in academic writing. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2026;18(2), ep637. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/17984

Hasanbaşoğlu, Burçin, and Mustafa Baloglu. "The double-edged sword of artificial intelligence: Gifted college students’ use of ChatGPT in academic writing". Contemporary Educational Technology 2026 18 no. 2 (2026): ep637. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/17984

Hasanbaşoğlu, Burçin et al. "The double-edged sword of artificial intelligence: Gifted college students’ use of ChatGPT in academic writing". Contemporary Educational Technology, vol. 18, no. 2, 2026, ep637. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/17984

Hasanbaşoğlu B, Baloglu M. The double-edged sword of artificial intelligence: Gifted college students’ use of ChatGPT in academic writing. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2026;18(2):ep637. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/17984