<p>The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into fine arts education has reshaped students’ academic engagement, but the mechanisms underlying this influence remain underexplored. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory And Control-Value Theory, to examine the mechanism of AI-driven academic engagement, we first collected survey data from 2,826 fine arts students across 18 Chinese universities and then analyzed it using a Structural Equation Model. The results reveal that AI usage enhances engagement through both a substantial direct effect (<i>β</i> = 0.298) and multiple indirect pathways. Among the mediators, achievement emotions (indirect effect <i>β</i> = 0.189) emerged as a significantly more powerful pathway than self-efficacy (<i>β</i> = 0.074). The study also validates a sequential chain-mediation pathway (AI usage → self-efficacy → achievement emotions →academic engagement in art practice), clarifying the process by which cognitive gains translate into affective drivers of engagement. The key practical implication is that to maximize engagement, educators should strategically manage the full sequential pathway, leveraging AI-driven enhancements in self-efficacy as a foundational step to cultivate positive achievement emotions, which this study identifies as the most potent mediating factor.</p>