International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development

The rapid integration of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education has transformed academic programming, raising pedagogical concerns regarding student overdependence and the potential decline of independent logical reasoning. This quantitative descriptive study aimed to assess the effects of AI tools on the coding skills and logical thinking of Information Technology (IT) students. Utilizing a researcher-made structured survey, data were collected from 225 predominantly novice (Beginner and Amateur) IT students. Results revealed a near-universal AI adoption rate of 96%. Contrary to prevailing academic fears that AI is primarily used to bypass manual effort, findings indicated that students predominantly utilize AI for researching concepts (70%) and debugging errors (39%), rather than outright code generation (33%). Furthermore, respondents reported that AI significantly accelerates learning, particularly in making programming concepts easier to understand (WM: 3.44). Crucially, the study found low levels of AI dependency and cognitive decline (Overall WM: 2.86), with students explicitly disagreeing with the practice of copying AI-generated code without comprehension (WM: 2.60). Instead, respondents demonstrated a proactive, autonomous learning attitude by actively attempting to understand the underlying logic of AI outputs (WM: 3.39). The study concludes that for novice IT students, Artificial Intelligence serves as a highly effective educational catalyst and personalized tutor rather than a detrimental crutch. It is recommended that educational institutions shift from prohibition policies to integrating AI literacy into the curriculum, emphasizing active code deconstruction, "debug-first" methodologies, and logic-based assessments to maximize educational benefits while mitigating risks.

Karl Joseph A. Austria,"The Impact of Artificial Intelligence Tools on the Coding Proficiency and Skill Development of IT Students" International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development, V9(2): Page(937-944) Mar-Apr 2026. ISSN: 2581-7175. www.ijsred.com. Published by Scientific and Academic Research Publishing.