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. 2023 Mar 17;18(3):e0283170. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283170

Influence of artificial intelligence in education on adolescents’ social adaptability: The mediatory role of social support

Tinghong Lai 1,2, Chuyin Xie 1, Minhua Ruan 1, Zheng Wang 3, Hong Lu 1, Shimin Fu 1,*
Editor: Md Zia Uddin4
PMCID: PMC10022785  PMID: 36930593

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely used in the field of education at present, but people know little about its possible impacts, especially on the physical and mental development of the educated. It is important to explore the possible impacts of the application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) in order to avoid the possible adverse effects. Prior research has focused on theory to the exclusion of the psychological impact of AIEd, and the empirical research was relatively lacking. This study aimed to identify the influence of AIEd on adolescents’ social adaptability via social support. A total of 1332 students were recruited using random sampling from 13 Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Reform Experimental Schools in Guangzhou, Southern China, completed the survey. There were 342 primary school students (Meanage = 10.6), 351 junior high school students (Meanage = 13.1), and 639 senior high school students (Meanage = 15.8). Results showed that AIEd has a negative impact on adolescents’ social adaptability, and is significantly negatively correlated with social adaptability and family support, but there is no significant correlation with school support. AIEd could not only affect social adaptability directly, but also could affected it through the family support.

Introduction

The application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) is a new trend in educational innovation and development. Particularly after the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, large-scale online teaching has become a big test of how artificial intelligence (AI) technology might enable education. Some researchers believe that AIEd brings more opportunities than threats [1, 2]. For example, Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) has been found to be more effective than traditional teaching tools. An intelligent learning environment created based on a network tutoring system has been found to have a positive impact on the durability of education [3]. However, some researchers believe that there are potential risks of AIEd. For example, using intelligent technology to collect learners’ data may cause safety and ethical problems due to data leakage [4]. Some researchers are even worried that AIEd may deviate from the purpose of education, and become a potential educational risk behavior due to the bias of its designers and executants.

Adolescents are the principal recipients of AIEd, and they are in a critical period in which they are very easily affected by the external environment [5, 6]. However, previous studies have only discussed the influence of AIEd on adolescent at the theoretical level, the lack of research into emotion and influencing factors research has always been a prominent problem in AIEd [7]. So, it is important to pay attention to the impact of AIEd on adolescents’ physical and mental development.

Application of artificial intelligence in education

The application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) can be understood as integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technology into the scenes of education. At present, a number of key AI technologies, including machine learning, knowledge mapping, and natural language processing are gradually being applied in education. In general, there are five typical ways in which AIEd is applied: an intelligent education environment, intelligent learning process support, intelligent educational evaluation, intelligent teacher assistance, and intelligent educational management and services [8]. In this study, AIEd refers to the universal application of AI technology in education, i.e., the new technologies used to improve teaching methods and enhance learning efficiency, expand teaching time-space environment, and improve teaching management and services. These can also be referred to as VR teaching, online learning, flat panel teaching, etc. Research to date has shown there are three main forms of AIEd being used in the Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Reform Experimental Schools in Guangzhou. One is the form of curriculum teaching, such as information technology courses, general technology courses, flat panel teaching, intelligent reading, etc. The second takes the form of interest classes, such as programming courses, assembling robots, etc. The third involves mass organization, such as 3D printing, Lego plug-ins, teaching boxes, etc.

Application of artificial intelligence in education and social adaptability

Interpersonal relationships are important to one’s social adaptability. Specifically, a good interpersonal relationship is conducive to social adaptability; otherwise, it is unfavorable [9]. According to the theory of social presence and the theory of social cue reduction which are based on cue filtering orientation, media communication is more prone than face-to-face communication to weaken the ability and expectation of individual to establish social interaction due to the lack of important nonverbal and situational cues, such as those involving vision, hearing and touch [10]. Although non-face-to-face online social contact produces less social pressure and lower social anxiety than real face-to-face social contact, most young people with social anxiety further escape from real social contact after obtaining social support through online [11], which is disadvantageous to their social adaptability.

Studies have shown that the application of artificial intelligence technology is conducive to individual development. For example, children who interact with robots show a high degree of creativity, promoting the development of their social ability [12], and wearable machines can enhance the expression ability of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders [13]. However, some studies have shown that the application of artificial intelligence technology is disadvantageous to individual development. For example, frequent use of intelligent electronic devices has a negative impact on adolescents’ interpersonal relationships [14] and social adaptability [15], and the elderly who are cared for by robot partners feel more lonely and emotionally indifferent [16].

The application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) is based on computers and other media technologies, making it inseparable from the use of intelligent devices such as the Internet and electronic equipment. Education is a kind of social activity, and interaction and cooperation are the core of the teaching process. However, AIEd makes machines become the intermediary connecting students and teachers, which changes the interpersonal relationship of teaching from human-human to human-machine-human. The changed space-time relationship of teaching leads to a decrease in real teacher-student interpersonal interaction, and the students’ sense of social presence is weakened. AIEd has great situational difference from conventional teaching and lacks of sufficient nonverbal clues, situational clues and other important information, which is disadvantageous to adolescents’ social adaptability.

Social support, application of artificial intelligence in education and social adaptability

Social support refers to resources provided by others, and parents and peers are the most direct sources of social support for adolescents. Research has demonstrated that the more social support one receives, the better the social adaptability [17]. There is positive causality between social support and mental health [18], and a lack of social support is not conducive to adolescents’ social adaptability.

Prior studies have indicated that parent-child relationships, parent-child communication, and peer relationships can affect adolescents’ social adaptability [19, 20]. Adolescents who perceiving parents’ support for basic psychological needs could predict their well-being, high self-esteem, and sense of choice about their own behavior [21]. According to the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory, when an individual is rejected by his/her parents, his/her emotional connection with supportive caregivers can buffer or compensate for the negative impact of parental rejection [22]. As peers are the most “important others” of adolescents except for their parents, peer acceptance could significantly predict the interpersonal adaptability of primary school students, and a good peer relationship can excellently predict emotional expression ability and social adaptability in adolescents [23], while poor peer relationships may have a negative impact on their social adaptability [24]. In addition, prior studies have also suggested that a good teacher-student relationship can promote the school adaptability and social adaptability of adolescents, and has an impact on parent-child relationships and peer relationships [2528].

82% of information in teaching is transmitted through nonverbal communication. Nonverbal intimate behaviors, such as facing students, smiling, approaching students, eye contact and communication, voice cadence, and positive posture [29] are the center of effective teaching. The more nonverbal intimate behaviors, the better the effect on students’ emotional learning [30]. The application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) reduces the nonverbal intimacy behaviors between teachers and students, and thus their sense of social presence and interpersonal interaction is weakened. In addition, individuals’ over-reliance on intelligent devices may lead to a reduction in parent-child communication, peer communication and teacher-student interaction. AIEd may not only change the way of communication but also the relationships with teachers, peers, and parents. To sum up, we propose hypothesis 1: AIEd affects adolescents’ social adaptability, and is related to perceived social support. Hypothesis 2: Perceived social support plays intermediary role between AIEd and social adaptability. The specific hypothetical model is shown in Fig 1.

Fig 1. Model of mediatory role of social support between AIEd and social adaptability.

Fig 1

Materials and methods

Participants and method

1332 students recruited through random sampling from a total of 28 classes across 13 schools participated in the survey. All schools were Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Reform Experimental Schools in Guangzhou, and participants included 342 primary school students (Meanage = 10.6), 351 junior high school students (Meanage = 13.1), and 639 senior high school students (Meanage = 15.8). Students who met the following criteria were not eligible for the study: unable to understand the terms in the questionnaire or leaving more than 30% of the items uncompleted. Missing values of the included data were replaced with averages. Before completing the survey, all participants gave written informed consent. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Guangzhou University (No: GZHU2020010). Questionnaires were completed anonymously within 40 minutes and collected on the spot. A total of 1318 valid samples were obtained (Meanage = 13.56), giving an effective return rate of 98.95%. SPSS25.0 and model 4 of Process of SPSS as compiled by Hayes (2013) were used for statistical analysis.

Measures tools

Artificial Intelligence Usage Questionnaire. The Mobile Phone Usage Questionnaire (Wang & Zhang, 2018) was used to investigate the usage of AI among adolescents. One of the items, “Are you using AI or smart phones, tablets and other intelligent devices to learning”, is scored with options 1 = yes and 2 = no. Based on their response, students were divided into the artificial intelligence group and non- artificial intelligence group.

Parent-Child Relationship Scale was adopted to measure the quality of parent-child relationships (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.92). It comprises 18 items, scored on a 5-point scale from 1 = “completely unqualified to 5 = “very qualified”. The higher the total score, the better the parent-child relationship.

Parent-Child Communication Scale (Wang, et al.,2006) was adopted to measure the communication between parents and children (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89). It comprises 20 items (10 of which are reverse scored), scored on a 5-point scale from 1 = “strongly disagree” to 5 = “strongly agree”. The higher the total score, the better the communication between parents and children.

Teacher-Student Relationship Scale (Chen & Li, 2009) was adopted to measure the teacher-student relationship (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.91). The scale comprises 7 items scored on a 5-point scale from 1 = “completely inconsistent” to 5 = “very consistent”, with item 7 reverse scored. The higher the total score, the better the relationship between teachers and the student.

Peer-Relationship Scale (Chen & Zhu, 1997) was adopted to measure peer relationships (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.83). It comprises 18 items scored on a 6-point scale from 1 = “completely inconsistent” to 6 = “completely consistent”. Nine items (items 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17) are reversed scored, The higher the total score, the better the relationships with peers.

Social Adaptability Scale (Zheng, 1999) was adopted to measure social adaptability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.80). It comprises 20 items, and uses a 3-point scoring method (1 = “Yes”, 2 = “Uncertain”, 3 = “No”). The higher the total score, the better the social adaptability.

Results

Common method deviation test

Because all the variables under investigation were measured by scales, the Harman Single Factor Test was used to look for possible common method deviation. Results showed that there were 23 factors with characteristic values greater than 1 and the first factor explained the variation of 20.12%, which is less than the critical standard of 40%. Therefore, there is no serious problem of Common Method Deviation.

Difference in social adaptability between artificial intelligence group and non- artificial intelligence group

One way ANOVA was used to analyze the difference in social adaptability between the artificial intelligence group (AI group) and non-artificial intelligence group (non-AI group). Results show that there was a significant social adaptability difference between them [F (1, 1318) = 10.068, p < 0.01], indicating that AIEd has an impact on adolescents’ social adaptability. (See Table 1).

Table 1. Differences in social adaptability of students between AI group and non-AI group.

Group N M SD t p
AI group 998 3.10 13.96 - -
Non-AI group 320 6.04 14.59 - -
3.173 0.002**

Note:* = p < 0.05

** = p < 0.01

*** = p < 0.001.

Correlation analysis of application of artificial intelligence in education, social support, and social adaptability

Results of Bivariate Correlation Analysis showed that social adaptability was significantly negatively correlated with the application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) (r = -0.087, p < 0.01), significantly positively correlated with parent-child relationship, parent-child communication, and teacher-student relationship (r = 0.307, p < 0.01; r = 0.405, p < 0.01; r = 0.166, p < 0.01), but not significantly correlated with peer relationship (r = -.007, p > 0.05). AIEd was significantly negatively correlated with parent-child relationship and parent-child communication (r = - 0.054, p < 0.05; r = -0.086, p < 0.05), but not significantly correlated with teacher-student relationship or peer relationship (r = -0.048, p > 0.05; r = 0.023, p > 0.05). That is to say, AIEd is significantly negatively correlated with family support, but not significantly correlated with school support. Family support could predict social adaptability positively, which is consistent with previous research results. AIEd is significantly negatively correlated with social adaptability and family support significantly. (See Table 2).

Table 2. Correlation analysis results of AIEd, social support and social adaptability.

Variables M (SD) 1 2 3 4 5
1. AIEd 1.24 (0.429) - - - - -
2. P-C relationship 63.11 (14.447) -.054* - - - -
3. P-C communication 131.52 (27.839) -.086* .734** - - -
4. T-S relationship 26.66 (4.769) -.048 .310** .288** - -
5.Peer relationship 54.76 (8.793) .023 .174** .153** .147** -
6. Social Adaptability 5.34 (14.468) -.087** .307** .405** .166** -.007

Note:* = p < 0.05

** = p < 0.01

*** = p < 0.001. P-C = Parent-child, T-S = Teacher-student.

Examination of the intermediary effect of social support between application of artificial intelligence in education and social adaptability

According to the results of correlation analysis, the application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) is significantly related to social adaptability and family support, which can be analyzed further. First, AIEd was taken as the independent variable, with social adaptability, parent-child relationship, and parent-child communication as dependent variables for regression analysis. Next, parent-child relationship and parent-child communication were taken as independent variables, with social adaptability as the dependent variable for regression analysis. Finally, social adaptability was taken as the dependent variable, AIEd as the independent variable, and parent-child relationship and parent-child communication as intermediary variables for intermediary effect analysis.

As shown in Table 3, AIEd negatively predicts social adaptability, parent-child relationship and parent-child communication (β = -.087, p < 0.01; β = -.054, p < 0.05; β = -.086, p < 0.01), while parent-child relationship and parent-child communication positively predict social adaptability (β = .307, p < 0.001; β = .405, p < 0.001). Furthermore, model 4 of Process for SPSS as compiled by Hayes (2013) was used to test the effect size and significance, in which the bootstrap was 5000 times. As shown in Table 4, the total effect of AIEd on social adaptability was [-.203] and the confidence interval did not include 0 [-.327, -.080], indicating that the total effect is significant. The direct effects of AIEd on social adaptability were [-.121] and [-.165], with 95% confidence intervals of [-.238, -.003] and [-.283, -.046] respectively; the confidence intervals do not include 0, indicating that the direct effect is significant. The intermediary effect of parent-child relationship and parent-child communication between AIEd and social adaptability were [-.039] and [-.083], with 95% confidence intervals of [-.081, -.001] and [-.136, -.035] respectively; the confidence intervals do not include 0, indicating that the intermediary effect is significant. We tested the mediatory model of parent-child relationship between AIEd and social adaptability, and the parent-child communication between AIEd and social adaptability, the mediatory moedel showed an excellent fit to the data: χ2/df = 4.81, comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.00, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.019; χ2/df = 3.92, comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.00, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.023. (See Fig 2).

Table 3. Effect analysis of AIEd, social support and social adaptability.

Variables Social Adaptability P-C relationship P-C communication
β        t β        t β        t
AIEd -.087        –3.173** -.054        –1.976* -.086        –3.132**
R 2 .007 .002 .007
F 10.068 3.903 9.808
Variables Social Adaptability P-C relationship P-C communication
β        t β        t β        t
P-C relationship .307        11.755*** -        - -        -
R 2 .094 - -
F 138.187 - -
Variables Social Adaptability P-C relationship P-C communication
β        t β        t β        t
P-C communication .405        16.150*** -        - -        -
R 2 .164 - -
F 260.818 - -

Note:* = p < 0.05

** = p < 0.01

*** = p < 0.001. P-C = Parent-child.

Table 4. Intermediary effect test of social support (family support).

Effect type Effect value SE Relative effect quantity Bootstrap (95%CI)
Total effect -.203 .063 100% [-.327, -.080]
Direct effect -.121 .060 59.24% [-.238, -.003]
Intermediary effect of P-C communication -.083 .026 40.80% [-.136, -.035]
Total effect -.203 .063 100% [-.327, -.080]
Direct effect -.165 .060 80.87% [-.283, -.046]
Intermediary effect of P-C relationship -.039 .020 19.17% [-.081, -.001]

Note: P-C = Parent-child.

Fig 2. Mediatory model of family support system between AIEd and social adaptability.

Fig 2

General discussion

From the results above, we conclude that the application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) negatively affects adolescent’s social adaptability, and that family support (a form of social support) plays an intermediary role between AIEd and social adaptability. This finding is consistent with our hypothesis. Prior studies have demonstrated that artificial intelligence (AI) technology is conducive to individual development, but most of them take adolescents with weak social functions (such as, the autistic or hearing-impaired) as objects [13]. Different objects may lead to different results; this study takes normal adolescents as objects, and the results show that AIEd has a negative impact on social adaptability. Certainly, AIEd has positive effects on adolescents, such as promoting learning, but it cannot completely replace the functions of people. Otherwise, it will do more harm than good.

The parent-child relationship is an important social relationship and indeed the first that individuals experience. Bowlby (1973) believed that one’s early parent-child relationships affect the construction of a safe internal work model, which will later affect teacher-student and peer-relationships, thus affecting social adaptability. At present, AIEd is in the initial stage in China. Students are not deeply involved, and their main social relationships are family relationships, so their social adaptability is more obviously affected by family support than school support.

However, this study’s findings must be understood within the context of its specific limitations. The cross-sectional approach used to collect data makes it hard to establish a causal relationship between AIEd and social adaptability. Moreover, social adaptability is a dynamic process, and the impact of AIEd may present phased characteristics. Therefore, longitudinal data should be collected. Furthermore, this study principally relied on participants’ self-reports. Further research should utilize multiple data collection methods, such as parental report and peer report, or empirical research, which may help assess their relationship more accurately and reduce the common method variance. Finally, we distinguished the AI group and non-AI group based on participants’ self-report; a more rigorous grouping method could be adopted in future research.

Conclusion

This study aimed to identify the impact of the application of artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) on adolescents’ social adaptability from the perspective of social support. Results show that AIEd negatively affects adolescents’ social adaptability. Family support, a form of social support, plays an intermediary role between AIEd and adolescents’ social adaptability. Future research should further explore the impact of AIEd on individual physical and mental development to determine possible risks.

Supporting information

S1 File. Social adaptability and social support- minimized data.

(SAV)

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge all participants for their time, effort, and contribution.

Data Availability

All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.

Funding Statement

This study received support from The Major Project of Guangzhou Educational Science Planning (No: 2020zd003). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscrip.

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Decision Letter 0

Md Zia Uddin

7 Dec 2022

PONE-D-22-21872Influence of Artificial Intelligence in Education on Adolescent’s Social AdaptabilityPLOS ONE

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Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: This is a very well designed and well written paper.

Analysis is sophistocated enough.

The results are new.

Here are my suggestions:

1 - Only main effects and mediations are mentioned. Please also test the effects by social sttaus and gender/sex.

2- Please add data on fit statistics.

3- Please report standardized coefficients (rather than unstandardized b) in the paper and also in figures.

4- What is data on ethnicity / social class?

After these minor changes, I am happy to recoimmend acceptance.

Reviewer #2: In this paper, authors analyze the influence of AI in education on adolescent’s social adaptability. The paper is well structured and well-written. I have few comments:

In Abstract: Please be consistent, authors used AIed and AIEd variations. Moreover, please use full words instead of abbreviations for the very first time.

While applying ANOVA, how the the problem was formulated for non-AI group? Does AI usage questionnaires represent the AI group and rest parent-child relationship scholar or teacher student scales lies in non-AI group?

Did authors try other methods then ANOVA? If not, then why ANOVA was chosen, please elaborate.

**********

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

**********

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PLoS One. 2023 Mar 17;18(3):e0283170. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283170.r002

Author response to Decision Letter 0


15 Dec 2022

Responds to reviewer#1

1 - Only main effects and mediations are mentioned. Please also test the effects by social sttaus and gender/sex.

Respond 1: In this study, we mainly consider to explore the impact of AIEd on adolescents’ social adaptability, and the mediatory role of social support between AIEd and social adaptability. Of course, gender, social status, race, and all, that you mentioned, may be influencing factors, but we have not included them in this study. We will consider the role of these factors in our future research. Thank you for your review and suggestions.

2- Ple ase add data on fit statistics.

Respond 2:we add data on fit statistics in the revision manuscript as follow:

We tested the mediatory model of parent-chlid relationship between AIEd and social adaptability, and the parent-child communication between AIEd and social adaptability, the mediatory moedel showed an excellent fit to the data: �2/df = 4.81, comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.00, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)= 0.019; �2/df = 3.92, comparative fit index (CFI) =1.00, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)= 0.023.

3- Please report standardized coefficients (rather than unstandardized b) in the paper and also in figures.

Respond 3: In our manusript, β (Beta) in the paper is the standardized coefficients rather than understandardized coefficients B. and we re-report the standardizd coefficients in the figures.

4- What is data on ethnicity / social class?

Respond 4: Thank you for your review and suggestion. In this study, we did not consider the impact of ethnicity/social class, so we did not collect those data. In our future study, we will collect the ethnicity/social class data, and consider their impact.

Responds to reviewer#2

In Abstract: Please be consistent, authors used AIed and AIEd variations. Moreover, please use full words instead of abbreviations for the very first time.

Respond: We are sorry for the misspelling. We have replaced AIed with AIEd, and they are identical now. Besides, as your suggestion, we have used full words instead of abbreviations for the very first time.

While applying ANOVA, how the the problem was formulated for non-AI group? Does AI usage questionnaires represent the AI group and rest parent-child relationship scholar or teacher student scales lies in non-AI group?

Respond: Although subjects in our study are students come from Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Reform Experimental Schools in Guangzhou, but not all students use artificial intelligence for learning. So, the AI usege questionnaires we used in study has one items: “Are you using AI or smart phones, tablets and other intelligent devices to learning”, is scored with options 1= yes and 2 = no. Based on their response, students were divided into the artificial intelligence group and non- artificial intelligence group, 1 is AI group and 2 is non-AI group. The parent-child relationship scale and the teacher-student relationship scale are filled in by all students participating in the survey, whether they use artificial intelligence for learning or not. All subjects completed all questionnaires.

Did authors try other methods then ANOVA? If not, then why ANOVA was chosen, please elaborate.

Respond: We also carried out average value analysis, and the result showed that they were consistent with the result in manuscript, it is significant. Because ANOVA can determine the influence of controllable factors on the research results, so we choose present the result of ANOVA in manuscript.

Attachment

Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.docx

Decision Letter 1

Md Zia Uddin

3 Mar 2023

Influence of Artificial Intelligence in Education on Adolescents' Social Adaptability: The Mediatory Role of Social Support

PONE-D-22-21872R1

Dear Dr. Lai,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Md Zia Uddin

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Congratulations. The paper can be accepted because the revision is satisfactory. The analysis is added, statistics are appropriate, and figures and tables are informative.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

**********

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Farzan Majeed Noori

**********

Acceptance letter

Md Zia Uddin

9 Mar 2023

PONE-D-22-21872R1

Influence of Artificial Intelligence in Education on Adolescents' Social Adaptability: The Mediatory Role of Social Support

Dear Dr. Lai:

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org.

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Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Dr. Md Zia Uddin

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Associated Data

    This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

    Supplementary Materials

    S1 File. Social adaptability and social support- minimized data.

    (SAV)

    Attachment

    Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.docx

    Data Availability Statement

    All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.


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