The Impact of AI as a Support Tool on Academic Activities and Soft Skill Acquisition Among Communication Faculty Universitas Islam Riau Students

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an academic support tool is transforming learning behaviors in higher education, raising new questions about its implications for traditional learning outcomes, skill development, and academic integrity. Communication Studies as a discipline grounded in practical competence such as writing, media production, editing, and creative design becomes a critical locus for examining this shift. This study investigates The Impact of AI as a Support Tool on Academic Activities and Soft Skill Acquisition Among Communication Faculty Students at Universitas Islam Riau (UIR). The research explores how students reliance on AI to complete academic tasks (scriptwriting, layout design, video editing) affects their motivation to learn and master the underlying soft skills that were once developed through sustained practice. AI enables students to produce results through accurate prompting, potentially bypassing deep learning processes and long-term skill cultivation. A central issue addressed in this study is the absence of formal institutional regulation, as UIR currently provides no written guidelines defining acceptable limits of AI assistance. This regulatory gap introduces uncertainty regarding ethical boundaries, academic honesty, and the authenticity of student-produced work. To deepen the analysis, the research compares two user groups students enrolled in the Artificial Intelligence course, who receive structured academic instruction, and autodidactic users who adopt AI tools independently without theoretical grounding. Using a qualitative research design, data will be gathered through interviews, observation, and document analysis to uncover student motivations, usage patterns, ethical perceptions, and projected long-term effects on skill development. The findings are expected to contribute to scholarly discourse on AI literacy in higher education, offer critical recommendations for policy formulation, and provide a foundation for designing balanced AI integration strategies that maintain innovation while safeguarding competence-based learning.