The sustainable integration of Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIEd) in higher education hinges on students’ prolonged and meaningful adoption. Grounded in the Acceptance of AI Device Usage (AIDUA) framework, this study extends the model by incorporating novelty value and trust to investigate the determinants of students’ willingness to use AIEd Tools sustainably. Data from 400 university students in China were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that novelty value acts as a powerful catalyst, substantially boosting performance expectancy and diminishing effort expectancy. Furthermore, this study delineates a dual-pathway mechanism where performance and effort expectancies shape both emotions and trust, which in turn directly determine adoption intention—with emotion exhibiting the stronger influence. Theoretically, this research validates an extended AIDUA model, highlighting the critical roles of sustained innovation perception and cognitive-affective dual pathways. Practically, it advises higher education institutions to prioritize building robust trust through transparent practices and to design AIEd Tools that deliver lasting innovative value and positive learning experiences to foster sustainable adoption.

Cultural heritage plays a crucial role in maintaining cultural diversity and historical identity. However, preservation faces challenges from natural and human-induced factors, prompting increased adoption of digital technologies. Digital cultural heritage platforms provide innovative pathways for sustainable preservation, yet factors influencing user engagement remain underexplored. This study examines the WenZang Chinese Pattern Online Museum database using an integrated Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and task–technology fit (TTF) framework, supplemented by Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), to explore relationships between key factors affecting designers’ satisfaction and engagement. A combined Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and ANN approach was employed to survey 267 Chinese designers. Results indicate that design aesthetics (DA) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) enhance perceived convenience (PC); performance impacts (PIM) and information quality (IQ) influence perceived usefulness (PU); PC and PU drive attitude toward using (AU) and purchase intention (PI), jointly enhancing satisfaction with (SAT). Mission technology matching (MTM) positively influences SAT, perceived task–technology fit (PTTF), and technical task fitting (TTF). ANN analysis reveals that PI is the most significant determinant of SAT, followed by DA and PIM, demonstrating nonlinear relationships not captured by linear SEM alone. The introduction of ANN provides comprehensive understanding of user satisfaction, revealing indirect effects of key experience factors (such as DA and PIM) on SAT through PC and PU. This study emphasizes the need to comprehensively consider user experience, technological performance, and behavior transformation mechanisms when optimizing digital cultural heritage platforms to achieve sustained improvements in user satisfaction and engagement.

Serious games (SGs) have been widely employed in the digital preservation and transmission of architectural heritage. However, the key determinants and underlying mechanisms driving users’ continuance intentions toward ancient-architecture cultural heritage serious games (CH-SGs) have not been thoroughly investigated. Accordingly, a conceptual model grounded in the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework was developed to elucidate the affective and behavioral effects experienced by CH-SG users. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were employed to capture both the linear and nonlinear relationships among model constructs. By integrating sufficiency logic (PLS-SEM) and necessity logic (necessary condition analysis, NCA), “must-have” and “should-have” factors were identified. Empirical results indicate that cultural authenticity, knowledge acquisition, perceived enjoyment, and design aesthetics each exert a positive influence—of varying magnitude—on perceived value, cultural identification, and perceived pleasure, thereby shaping users’ continuance intentions. Moreover, cultural authenticity and perceived enjoyment were found to be necessary and sufficient conditions, respectively, for enhancing perceived pleasure and perceived value, which in turn indirectly bolster CH-SG users’ sustained use intentions. By creating an immersive, narratively rich, and engaging cognitive experience, CH-SGs set against ancient architectural backdrops not only stimulate users’ willingness to visit and protect heritage sites but also provide designers and developers with critical insights for optimizing future CH-SG design, development, and dissemination.