Title: ChatGPT and higher education: examining early public opinions through sentiment analysis of online news

Authors: Areej Yousef; Yangsheng Zheng; Eunjae Park; Ahmad Abdel-Hafez

Addresses: Griffith University, 176 Messines Ridge Rd., Mount Gravatt QLD 4122, Brisbane, Australia ' Griffith University, 176 Messines Ridge Rd., Mount Gravatt QLD 4122, Brisbane, Australia ' Griffith University, 176 Messines Ridge Rd., Mount Gravatt QLD 4122, Brisbane, Australia ' University of Doha for Science and Technology, Al Tarfa, Jelaiah Street Duhail North, P.O. Box 24449, Doha, Qatar

Abstract: The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT has stirred interest in the higher education sector and the public. Public opinions, particularly those conveyed through online news, are likely to exert discursive influences on how society responds to AI innovations. The current study provides early insights into the public sentiment in online news articles around ChatGPT and higher education using a mixed methods approach. Through Python and SPSS, we compiled a dataset of 919 news articles, finding a positive sentiment in 856 articles (93.1%). Key trends concerning the prevalence of news published in English-speaking nations were also identified. By adopting Fairclough's critical discourse analysis approach to unpack negative sentiment, we unveiled public concerns around ChatGPT replacing the need for human empathy, increasing the risk of academic integrity/plagiarism, spreading misinformation and job losses. We emphasise the importance of understanding ChatGPT's functionalities and imposing regulations to ensure ethical AI usage.

Keywords: ChatGPT; artificial intelligence; AI; higher education; online news; sentiment analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLT.2025.151040

International Journal of Learning Technology, 2025 Vol.20 No.4, pp.450 - 470

Received: 02 Nov 2023
Accepted: 10 Mar 2024
Published online: 12 Jan 2026 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article