The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) of Generative Artificial Intelligence: A Qualitative Study of Undergraduate Nursing Students

You Yuan^1,2*Jing Fu^2,3Lanlan Leng²Zhuosi Wen²Xiaoman Wei²Die Han^1,2Xinyang Hu⁴Yu Liang¹Qian Luo^1,2Xia Zhang^1,2Rujun Hu^1,2*

• ¹Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
• ²Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
• ³Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospita Bijie Hospital, Bijie, China
• ⁴Zunyi Medical and Pharmaceutical College, Zunyi, China

Background: While Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) is increasingly applied in nursing education, research on undergraduates' perceptions, experiences, and impacts remains limited. Objective: This study aims to explore undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) associated with Gen AI through qualitative research methods. Methods: Using the SWOT analysis framework as the theoretical basis, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with nursing undergraduates via convenience sampling from May to July 2025 until saturation, and analysed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method for thematic extraction. Results: A total of 36 nursing undergraduates were interviewed, from whom four main themes and sixteen sub-themes were identified. These were categorized into internal and external factors. Internal positive factors (Strengths) included personalized learning assistance, skill training and curriculum support, efficiency and cognitive expansion, and data processing and learning capability. Internal negative factors (Weaknesses) involved ethical and legal risks, the generation of low-quality or inaccurate outputs, technical barriers, and cognitive and learning risks. External opportunities comprised policy and resource support, technological advancement and evolution, interdisciplinary integration and collaboration, and emerging career opportunities. External threats included technological adaptation and cost risks, digital divide and equity gap, job displacement risk, and educational integrity risk. Conclusion: Undergraduate nursing students regard generative AI as a double-edged sword—its strengths in boosting learning efficiency, broadening knowledge access and simulating clinical decisions are offset by ethical, technological and equity challenges. Nursing education must therefore strengthen technical guidance, ethics training and resource optimisation to maximise its strengths and opportunities while minimising its weaknesses and threats.