Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing education while making discovering more available however likewise stimulating debates on its effect.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their knowing experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, specifically with lots of trainees not able to safeguard their assignments or offered works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed frustration over the growing reliance on AI-generated actions among students stating a current experience he had.

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"I offered a task to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 students, about 40% submitted the exact very same responses. These trainees did not even know each other, however they all utilized the same AI tool to create their reactions," he stated.

He kept in mind that this trend prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is particularly concerning in part-time and distance learning programs.

"AI is a severe difficulty when it pertains to projects. Many students no longer believe critically-they just go online, produce responses, and submit," he included.

Surprisingly, some speakers are likewise implicated of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both educators and trainees turn to AI for convenience instead of intellectual rigor.

This debate raises vital concerns about the function of AI in scholastic stability and student development.

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in January 2023, only one nation had actually released policies on generative AI as of July 2023.

As of December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot each week and 1 billion messages sent every day worldwide.

Decline of academic rigor

University speakers are progressively worried about trainees sending AI-generated assignments without genuinely comprehending the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about students significantly counting on ChatGPT, only to deal with addressing standard concerns when tested.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send refined assignments, however when asked basic concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating because education has to do with finding out, not simply passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing number of first-class graduates can not be entirely attributed to AI but confessed that even high-performing students utilize these tools.


"A first-class student is a superior student, AI or not, however that does not indicate they do not cheat. The benefits of AI might be peripheral, but it is making students reliant and less analytical," he stated.

- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, setiathome.berkeley.edu from Ebonyi State University, raised a various issue that some speakers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.


"It's not just students using AI lazily. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course describes, marking schemes, and even exam questions with AI without examining them. Students in turn utilize AI to create responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing real knowing," he regreted.

Students' perspectives on use

Students, on the other hand, say AI has improved their knowing experience by making scholastic materials more reasonable and available.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has actually substantially assisted her knowing by breaking down complex terms and providing summaries of prolonged texts.


"AI helped me understand things more easily, especially when dealing with intricate topics," she explained.

However, she remembered an instance when she utilized AI to send her task, just for her speaker to instantly recognize that it was generated by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad impact.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently finished with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, firmly believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his outstanding grades to actively appealing by asking concerns and concentrating on areas that speakers emphasize in class, as they are typically shown in test questions.


"It's everything about existing, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, wiki-tb-service.com a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to occasionally copying straight from ChatGPT when dealing with multiple due dates.


"To be honest, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have several due dates, and I know I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers don't get to check out them, however AI has actually likewise assisted me discover quicker."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts believe the solution depends on AI literacy; teaching students and speakers how to use AI as a learning help rather than a faster way.

- Minister of Education, it-viking.ch Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the combination of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the importance of a well balanced technique that keeps human participation while harnessing AI to improve learning outcomes.


"As we browse the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is crucial that we prioritise human firm in education. We must ensure that AI enhances, instead of replaces, teachers' important function in forming young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation professional, dealt with growing issues relating to the usage of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their prospective dangers to the instructional system.

- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, nevertheless, emphasized the need for caution in its usage.

- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance amongst teachers and schools towards including AI tools in learning environments. She identified 2 primary reasons that AI tools are dissuaded in instructional settings: security threats and plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based on user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of educators.


"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade said, discussing that AI doesn't cater to specific teaching techniques.

Plagiarism is another problem, as AI pulls from existing data, frequently without appropriate attribution

"A lot of people require to comprehend, like I said, this is data that has been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing information that some other individuals are fed into it, which in essence implies that is another person's paperwork," she warned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI development understood as "hallucination," where AI tools would create information that was not accurate.


"Hallucination meant that it was bringing out info from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that details from you, it was going to make one up," she described.

She suggested "grounding" AI by providing it with specific details to avoid such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the service, especially when AI provides a chance to leapfrog standard educational methods.

- She believes that consistently strengthening essential info assists individuals keep in mind and genbecle.com avoid making mistakes when confronted with difficulties.


"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the very same thing over and over once again, when they are about to make the errors, then they'll remember."

She likewise empasized the requirement for clear policies and procedures within schools, noting that numerous schools ought to resolve the individuals and process aspects of this usage.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has resorted to in-class assignments and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.


"Now, I mainly use assignments to make sure trainees offer original work." However, he acknowledged that managing big classes makes this technique difficult.

"If you set complex concerns, trainees will not have the ability to use AI to get direct responses," he discussed.

He highlighted the requirement for universities to train speakers on crafting test questions that AI can not easily solve while acknowledging that some speakers battle to counter AI misuse due to an absence of technological awareness. "Some speakers are analogue," he said.

- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI advancement with fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy at its core.

- UNESCO in a report calls for the regulation of AI in education, encouraging institutions to investigate algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they meet ethical standards, safeguard user information, and filter improper material.

- It worries the need to examine the long-lasting effect of AI on important skills like believing and imagination while producing policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO advises implementing age limitations for GenAI usage to secure younger students and safeguard susceptible groups.
- For federal governments, it advised embracing a coordinated nationwide technique to managing GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and aligning regulations with existing information protection and privacy laws. It stresses examining AI threats, imposing more stringent rules for high-risk applications, and making sure nationwide information ownership.