Campus AI vs. Commercial AI: Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT

Leon Hannig; Annika Bush; Meltem Aksoy; Tim Trappen; Steffen Becker; Greta Ontrup

doi:10.1145/3772318.3790622

Campus AI vs. Commercial AI: Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT

Leon Hannig^*
, Annika Bush
, Meltem Aksoy
, Tim Trappen
, Steffen Becker
, Greta Ontrup

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Duisburg-Essen
TU Dortmund University
University Alliance Ruhr
Ruhr University Bochum
Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

As the use of Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots by students and researchers becomes more prevalent, universities are pressed to develop AI strategies. One strategy that many universities pursue is to customize pre-trained LLM-as-a-service (LLMaaS) chatbots. While most studies on LLMaaS chatbots prioritize technical adaptations, these systems are often mainly characterized by user-salient front-end customizations, e. g., interface changes. Yet, no existing studies have examined how users perceive such systems compared to commercial LLM chatbots. In a field study, we investigate how students and employees (N = 526) at a German university perceive and use their institution's customized LLMaaS chatbot compared to ChatGPT. Participants using both systems (n = 116) reported greater trust, higher perceived privacy, and less perceived hallucinations with their university's customized LLMaaS chatbot compared to ChatGPT. We discuss implications for research on users' trustworthiness assessment process, and offer guidance for the design and deployment of LLMaaS chatbots.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Nuria Oliver, David A. Shamma, Heloisa Candello, Pablo Cesar, Pedro Lopes, Alessandro Bozzon, Thomas Kosch, Vera Liao, Xiaojuan Ma, Valentino Artizzu, Fiona Draxler, Gustavo Lopez, Anke V. Reinschluessel, Xin Tong, Phoebe O. Toups Dugas
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400722783
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3790622
Publication status	Published - 13 Apr 2026
Externally published	Yes
Event	2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026 - Barcelona, Spain Duration: 13 Apr 2026 → 17 Apr 2026

Publication series

Name	Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference	2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026
Country/Territory	Spain
City	Barcelona
Period	13/04/26 → 17/04/26

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).

Keywords

Customization
Hallucinations
Large Language Models as-a-Service (LLMaaS)
Trust
University

Access to Document

10.1145/3772318.3790622

Cite this

Hannig, L., Bush, A., Aksoy, M., Trappen, T., Becker, S., & Ontrup, G. (2026). Campus AI vs. Commercial AI: Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT. In N. Oliver, D. A. Shamma, H. Candello, P. Cesar, P. Lopes, A. Bozzon, T. Kosch, V. Liao, X. Ma, V. Artizzu, F. Draxler, G. Lopez, A. V. Reinschluessel, X. Tong, & P. O. Toups Dugas (Eds.), CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Article 965 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3790622

Hannig, Leon ; Bush, Annika ; Aksoy, Meltem et al. / Campus AI vs. Commercial AI : Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT. CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Nuria Oliver ; David A. Shamma ; Heloisa Candello ; Pablo Cesar ; Pedro Lopes ; Alessandro Bozzon ; Thomas Kosch ; Vera Liao ; Xiaojuan Ma ; Valentino Artizzu ; Fiona Draxler ; Gustavo Lopez ; Anke V. Reinschluessel ; Xin Tong ; Phoebe O. Toups Dugas. Association for Computing Machinery, 2026. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ).

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title = "Campus AI vs. Commercial AI: Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT",

abstract = "As the use of Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots by students and researchers becomes more prevalent, universities are pressed to develop AI strategies. One strategy that many universities pursue is to customize pre-trained LLM-as-a-service (LLMaaS) chatbots. While most studies on LLMaaS chatbots prioritize technical adaptations, these systems are often mainly characterized by user-salient front-end customizations, e. g., interface changes. Yet, no existing studies have examined how users perceive such systems compared to commercial LLM chatbots. In a field study, we investigate how students and employees (N = 526) at a German university perceive and use their institution's customized LLMaaS chatbot compared to ChatGPT. Participants using both systems (n = 116) reported greater trust, higher perceived privacy, and less perceived hallucinations with their university's customized LLMaaS chatbot compared to ChatGPT. We discuss implications for research on users' trustworthiness assessment process, and offer guidance for the design and deployment of LLMaaS chatbots.",

keywords = "Customization, Hallucinations, Large Language Models as-a-Service (LLMaaS), Trust, University",

author = "Leon Hannig and Annika Bush and Meltem Aksoy and Tim Trappen and Steffen Becker and Greta Ontrup",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).; 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026 ; Conference date: 13-04-2026 Through 17-04-2026",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

day = "13",

doi = "10.1145/3772318.3790622",

language = "English",

series = "Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery",

editor = "Nuria Oliver and Shamma, \{David A.\} and Heloisa Candello and Pablo Cesar and Pedro Lopes and Alessandro Bozzon and Thomas Kosch and Vera Liao and Xiaojuan Ma and Valentino Artizzu and Fiona Draxler and Gustavo Lopez and Reinschluessel, \{Anke V.\} and Xin Tong and \{Toups Dugas\}, \{Phoebe O.\}",

booktitle = "CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

}

Hannig, L, Bush, A, Aksoy, M, Trappen, T, Becker, S & Ontrup, G 2026, Campus AI vs. Commercial AI: Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT. in N Oliver, DA Shamma, H Candello, P Cesar, P Lopes, A Bozzon, T Kosch, V Liao, X Ma, V Artizzu, F Draxler, G Lopez, AV Reinschluessel, X Tong & PO Toups Dugas (eds), CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 965, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings , Association for Computing Machinery, 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026, Barcelona, Spain, 13/04/26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3790622

Campus AI vs. Commercial AI: Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT. / Hannig, Leon; Bush, Annika; Aksoy, Meltem et al.
CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Nuria Oliver; David A. Shamma; Heloisa Candello; Pablo Cesar; Pedro Lopes; Alessandro Bozzon; Thomas Kosch; Vera Liao; Xiaojuan Ma; Valentino Artizzu; Fiona Draxler; Gustavo Lopez; Anke V. Reinschluessel; Xin Tong; Phoebe O. Toups Dugas. Association for Computing Machinery, 2026. 965 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Campus AI vs. Commercial AI

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AU - Hannig, Leon

AU - Bush, Annika

AU - Aksoy, Meltem

AU - Trappen, Tim

AU - Becker, Steffen

AU - Ontrup, Greta

PY - 2026/4/13

Y1 - 2026/4/13

N2 - As the use of Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots by students and researchers becomes more prevalent, universities are pressed to develop AI strategies. One strategy that many universities pursue is to customize pre-trained LLM-as-a-service (LLMaaS) chatbots. While most studies on LLMaaS chatbots prioritize technical adaptations, these systems are often mainly characterized by user-salient front-end customizations, e. g., interface changes. Yet, no existing studies have examined how users perceive such systems compared to commercial LLM chatbots. In a field study, we investigate how students and employees (N = 526) at a German university perceive and use their institution's customized LLMaaS chatbot compared to ChatGPT. Participants using both systems (n = 116) reported greater trust, higher perceived privacy, and less perceived hallucinations with their university's customized LLMaaS chatbot compared to ChatGPT. We discuss implications for research on users' trustworthiness assessment process, and offer guidance for the design and deployment of LLMaaS chatbots.

AB - As the use of Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots by students and researchers becomes more prevalent, universities are pressed to develop AI strategies. One strategy that many universities pursue is to customize pre-trained LLM-as-a-service (LLMaaS) chatbots. While most studies on LLMaaS chatbots prioritize technical adaptations, these systems are often mainly characterized by user-salient front-end customizations, e. g., interface changes. Yet, no existing studies have examined how users perceive such systems compared to commercial LLM chatbots. In a field study, we investigate how students and employees (N = 526) at a German university perceive and use their institution's customized LLMaaS chatbot compared to ChatGPT. Participants using both systems (n = 116) reported greater trust, higher perceived privacy, and less perceived hallucinations with their university's customized LLMaaS chatbot compared to ChatGPT. We discuss implications for research on users' trustworthiness assessment process, and offer guidance for the design and deployment of LLMaaS chatbots.

KW - Customization

KW - Hallucinations

KW - Large Language Models as-a-Service (LLMaaS)

KW - Trust

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A2 - Oliver, Nuria

A2 - Shamma, David A.

A2 - Candello, Heloisa

A2 - Cesar, Pablo

A2 - Lopes, Pedro

A2 - Bozzon, Alessandro

A2 - Kosch, Thomas

A2 - Liao, Vera

A2 - Ma, Xiaojuan

A2 - Artizzu, Valentino

A2 - Draxler, Fiona

A2 - Lopez, Gustavo

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PB - Association for Computing Machinery

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ER -

Hannig L, Bush A, Aksoy M, Trappen T, Becker S, Ontrup G. Campus AI vs. Commercial AI: Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT. In Oliver N, Shamma DA, Candello H, Cesar P, Lopes P, Bozzon A, Kosch T, Liao V, Ma X, Artizzu V, Draxler F, Lopez G, Reinschluessel AV, Tong X, Toups Dugas PO, editors, CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery. 2026. 965. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ). doi: 10.1145/3772318.3790622

Campus AI vs. Commercial AI: Comparing How Students and Employees Perceive their University's LLM Chatbot vs. ChatGPT

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this