Can ChatGPT as a generative AI tool enhance university student academic achievement?

The Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) is one of the most representative generative AI (GenAI) that has been used widely in higher education. However, ChatGPT’s usage has raised some concerns about its effectiveness in improving academic performance. This study uses a meta-analysis to examine the impact of ChatGPT on university student academic achievement. The results suggest that ChatGPT has a large positive effect on university students’ academic achievement (SMD = 0.961, 95% CI=[0.706, 1.216], p < 0.001). Moreover, class size, learning length, ChatGPT role, and region significantly moderate ChatGPT’s effects. Overall, ChatGPT shows better effect (a) with a class size of <50; (b) over 1–3 months; (c) for non-STEM subjects; (d) when acting as a learning assistant or virtual tutor; and (e) when targeting Asian university students.