Artificial intelligence in nursing education 2: opportunities and threats

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to create new digital tools, such as the chatbot ChatGPT, which are starting to be used for teaching and learning in higher education. Nurse educators could use the opportunities offered by AI-based digital tools to enhance how they teach clinical knowledge and skills to students. Nursing students should learn to use AI tools appropriately, not just by understanding the opportunities they offer, but also by being aware of the threats they may pose to academic integrity, professional practice, and patient care. This second of two articles on AI in nursing education explores these opportunities and threats, and how to use generative AI in the context of nursing education.

This article has been double-blind peer reviewed

In this article…

• The role of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, in nursing education

• Opportunities that ChatGPT and other generative AI tools could bring to nursing education

• Why generative AI tools may present threats for nurse educators and nursing students

Key points

Artificial intelligence is being used to create digital tools that can generate text, images, audio and videos quickly and easily

These artificial intelligence-based digital tools could support nursing education in university and clinical settings

Generative artificial intelligence tools could bring new opportunities for nurse educators and clinical mentors to support teaching and assessment

Nursing students should learn about the potential opportunities and threats of artificial intelligence-based digital tools

Nursing students' digital literacy should include acquiring artificial intelligence knowledge and skills to use in professional practice