The current rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly changed the teaching-learning and evaluation processes in higher education. This creates a positive vision of the learning environment where students feel confident about their abilities and are better disposed toward content, teaching methods, and assessments. Incorporating AI tools into the university classroom tends to increase student self-efficacy because AI overcomes a lack of specific abilities or knowledge, resulting in a higher intrinsic motivation to complete the task. The ethical use of resources and thinking skills comes about when respect for ethical principles and values is guaranteed. Where these values are represented with excellence, knowledge arises in harmony with technical skills and the commitment to act comprehensively.

This implies that when using AI, the person is aware of the purpose and the information that has been fed to AI and can, therefore, understand the purpose of the AI recommendations and prevent effects that could damage people and the environment directly or indirectly.

This research aimed to identify whether the use of generative AI tools influences engineering students’ engagement in learning the Design Thinking methodology and if it promotes their ethical concern about learning and integrity.

This exploratory research was carried out with engineering students who use Design Thinking (DT) as a base methodology for the creation of products. The experimental design followed Solomon's four-group treatment. The experimental interventions involved developing the DT stages with the support of AI tools and creative techniques. Two instruments were used to evaluate the effect of the interventions: a general questionnaire for pre- and post-test evaluations, which was an online questionnaire with a five-option Likert scale, and a rubric with four levels of performance to judge ethical reflection.

The results showed an 11% increase in attitude towards innovation and design process and a 16% increase in the value of AI in design after the interventions involving AI, which confirms a positive effect on how students perceive their design learning process when using DT & AI. After the experimental treatment, students perceived themselves as more innovative and with a better command of the design process, which results in greater satisfaction with their class work, and this, in turn, contributes to their engagement and motivation. Regarding their concern about the ethical use of AI, students considered it to be a personal decision linked to their commitment to learning and self-efficacy.

The findings of this work allow us to conclude that Design Thinking interventions supported by AI positively affect students' perceptions of their design learning process. This positive effect seems to be linked to an increase in student´s self-efficacy, which drives them to become more engaged with the design topics The intentional use of AI for ethical reflection sensitizes the student to aspects of responsible use to achieve authentic learning in a framework of academic integrity.

With the use of AI, the students feel more control over their learning, and they can exercise better self-efficacy in the activities that allow them to acquire new knowledge, which results in a motivating experience that commits them to the class and using AI tools ethically.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, engagement, ethical concerns, higher education, self-efficacy.