Abstract

Generative AI technologies is now being adopted by higher education institutions worldwide to provide additional pedagogical techniques to teaching practices and to support student learning. However, the effectiveness in generating study materials has not been well documented despite the fact that several research have made comparisons to their capabilities. This study therefore investigated the effectiveness and user experience of three prominent generative AI tools namely ChatGPT, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot in developing study materials for university students. Based on practical engagement with the tools and feedback from graduate-level students in the SeSLaB, the research revealed clear performance gaps among the platforms. ChatGPT, particularly in its commercial version, emerged as the most effective and reliable tool for generating logically structured, detailed, and usable study guides. It consistently outperformed the others in efficiency, usability, accessibility and scalability. The findings suggest that while all tools have potential, ChatGPT is best suited for educational settings that require fast, structured, and editable outputs. Therefore, it is of best interest to recommend that developers of AI platforms should enhance their tools to support bulk uploads of academic materials and improve their ability to produce custom visual content, such as diagrams and models drawn directly from source documents. …víceméně