{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T21:31:16Z","timestamp":1790026276754,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782345600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Education Science Planning Project\u2014Doctoral Candidate Program","award":["FRA250474"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FRA250474"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009101","name":"Hunan Provincial Department of Education Scientific Research Project","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["24A0076"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24A0076"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009101","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002664","name":"Tenglong Innovative Talent Fund of Hunan Normal University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2025TL207"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025TL207"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002664","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009377","name":"Postgraduate Scientific Research Innovation Project of Hunan Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CX20250882"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CX20250882"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009377","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Intell."],"abstract":"<jats:p>English proficiency is vital for non-native speakers\u2019 career development, yet classroom instruction alone cannot meet practical demands, making informal digital learning of English (IDLE) increasingly important. Artificial intelligence (AI), with conversational and multimodal functions, offers new opportunities for IDLE. However, existing research on AI-mediated IDLE has predominantly focused on language majors and often relied on a single methodological lens, neglecting STEM undergraduates and the complex network dynamics among motivational factors. However, research has largely focused on language majors, leaving STEM majors underexplored. Guided by the Hedonic-Motivation System Adoption Model (HMSAM), this study analyzed data from 413 Chinese STEM majors using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM, SmartPLS 4.0) and psychological network analysis (PNA, R 4.5.3). PLS-SEM results showed that enjoyment was the strongest direct predictor of AI-IDLE, followed by focused immersion, perceived usefulness, and curiosity. Control contributed indirectly via focused immersion, while boredom was non-significant. Perceived ease of use influenced AI-IDLE only through cognitive and emotional pathways. The model explained 58.1% of the variance. PNA further identified enjoyment, focused immersion, and control as central nodes, while the link between perceived usefulness and AI-IDLE was non-significant. These findings suggest that Chinese STEM undergraduates\u2019 AI-IDLE is primarily driven by intrinsic hedonic motivations rather than utilitarian evaluations. The study provides empirical support for designing AI tools that enhance enjoyment and control to foster STEM students\u2019 extracurricular English engagement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jintelligence14070120","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T12:37:55Z","timestamp":1782391075000},"page":"120","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Chinese STEM College Students\u2019 AI-Mediated Informal Digital Learning of English: A Hybrid SEM-PNA Approach to the Hedonic-Motivation System Adoption Model"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Yixuan","family":"Xu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Research Centre for Foreign Language Education, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing 100089, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3876-110X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hanwei","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Foreign Studies College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100566","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chbr.2024.100566","article-title":"Self-directed writing development across computer\/AI-based tasks: Unraveling the traces on L2 writing outcomes, growth mindfulness, and grammatical knowledge","volume":"17","author":"Aladini","year":"2025","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior Reports"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"58","DOI":"10.1038\/s43586-021-00055-w","article-title":"Network analysis of multivariate data in psychological science","volume":"1","author":"Borsboom","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nature Reviews Methods Primers"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, Y., Ke, N., Huang, L., and Luo, R. 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