The Dual Impact of AI Adoption on College Students’ Academic Performance in Music Education: Evidence from China

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has fundamentally transformed knowledge production and dissemination. It has revolutionized educational paradigms, especially in music education. AI adoption is a transformative force, reshaping the teaching and learning landscape. This study examined the relationship between AI adoption and academic performance in music education. Data were collected from 624 questionnaires at 66 institutions. We analyzed the data with SPSS 25.0, Mplus 8.0, and HLM 7.0. The findings include: (1) AI adoption is positively correlated with students’ academic performance. (2) Academic self-efficacy mediates the relationship between AI adoption and academic performance. (3) AI dependency also acts as a mediator between AI adoption and academic performance. (4) Academic self-efficacy and AI dependency together have a chain-mediating effect between AI adoption and academic performance. (5) Organizational AI readiness is positively associated with students’ academic performance. (6) Organizational AI readiness moderates the relationship between AI adoption and academic performance. These findings enrich music education theories and provide actionable insights for enhancing the academic performance of music majors.