Between Algorithms and Everyday Choices: University Students’ Perspectives on AI For Campus Sustainability

Abstract

This study investigates how Hungarian higher‑education students interacted with AI-supported sustainability systems in their daily life at campus, specifically in relation to food services, mobility planning, and real‑time environmental feedback. Using semi‑structured interviews and a focus group with 32 students across multiple institutions, thematic analysis revealed three phases of interaction: sense‑making, trust construction, and behavior change. In the sense‑making phase, students engaged with the systems using pragmatic considerations like time, tangibility, prior understandings, and fitting into their daily life. Perceived value of what was produced was lessened when inputs were unclear regarding the context or unfriendly regarding the communication format. Trust developed through layered assessments of risk. Early trust was related to transparent data origins; trust developed through student-performed verification in situ; and trust was reinforced through social validation through affordability of services, fair pricing, inclusivity, and language accessibility. Trust diminished when the system stripped away autonomy, masked trade-offs, burdened cognition, or could not deliver cues to action. Behavior change appeared to happen when systems eliminated the friction of decision making, while aligning to previous habits. Sustained acceptance required ongoing trust and perceived value. The findings contribute to understanding of how AI-mediated sustainability initiatives are perceived, validated, and acted upon in the context of higher education, while providing design implications for systems seeking to be inclusive, transparent, and behavior changing