How ChatGPT Affects Education Landscape: Effects of ChatGPT on Higher Education Accessibility and Inclusivity

The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education has led to the creation of ChatGPT. Despite its potential benefits, the effects of ChatGPT on higher education accessibility and inclusion are not fully understood. This study aims to investigate the effect of ChatGPT on the accessibility and inclusivity in higher education for students. We delivered five questions to identify the applicability of ChatGPT, including the utilization of ChatGPT in higher education, the benefits of ChatGPT in higher education, the perception of quality answered by ChatGPT, user-friendliness interface of ChatGPT, and ChatGPT on enhanced higher education accessibility and inclusivity. These focus questions were purposefully created to strategise the integration of ChatGPT within the higher education framework. Total of 85 respondents, comprising undergraduate students from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Nigeria participated in this study. It was found that a significant 75.6% of respondents feel ChatGPT has enhanced higher education accessibility and inclusivity. This highlights the potential of AI technologies to improve educational environment by increasing accessibility and levelling the learning ecosystem for students with various requirements and backgrounds. There was still a widespread distinction of knowledge and viewpoints among students. Although some students consider ChatGPT to be just marginally useful and are only slightly satisfied with its quality, others express high satisfaction. It is important to note that some students did not find ChatGPT to be useful and have reservations about its accuracy. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of ChatGPT can play in decreasing barriers to education and fostering more classroom diversity. The findings of this study can also inform the development of best practises for incorporating technology such as ChatGPT into higher education institutions. This would eventually optimise ChatGPT potential impact on accessibility and inclusivity. All in all, this study can play a crucial role in changing the future of higher education using ChatGPT and ensuring that all students have access to the resources they need to succeed.