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

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their knowing experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens scholastic integrity, especially with lots of trainees unable to defend their projects or provided works.

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

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"I offered a task to my MBA students, and out of over 100 students, about 40% sent the specific same answers. These students did not even understand each other, but they all used the very same AI tool to create their actions," he stated.

He noted that this trend prevails among both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is particularly concerning in part-time and range learning programs.

"AI is a severe challenge when it comes to projects. Many students no longer believe critically-they simply browse the web, create answers, and send," he included.

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

This argument raises vital concerns about the function of AI in academic stability and trainee .

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million regular monthly active users in January 2023, just one nation had released regulations on generative AI since July 2023.

Since December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million individuals using the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent out every day around the world.

Decline of academic rigor

University speakers are significantly worried about trainees submitting AI-generated tasks without really comprehending the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students progressively counting on ChatGPT, just to battle with answering fundamental concerns when tested.

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and send polished projects, but when asked standard questions, they go blank. It's frustrating because education has to do with discovering, not simply passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing number of top-notch graduates can not be totally attributed to AI but admitted that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.
"A superior student is a top-notch student, AI or not, however that doesn't imply they do not cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, however it is making trainees dependent and less analytical," he stated.

- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various concern that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not just students using AI slackly. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course outlines, marking plans, and even test questions with AI without examining them. Students in turn utilize AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine learning," he regreted.

Students' viewpoints on usage

Students, on the other hand, state AI has enhanced their knowing experience by making academic products more understandable and users.atw.hu available.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has considerably assisted her knowing by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI assisted me understand things more quickly, particularly when dealing with complicated subjects," she discussed.

However, she recalled an instance when she used AI to send her task, parentingliteracy.com just for her speaker to instantly acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a superior degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, strongly thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his outstanding grades to actively appealing by asking questions and concentrating on locations that speakers stress in class, as they are often shown in exam concerns.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to occasionally copying straight from ChatGPT when facing numerous deadlines.
"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I know I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers don't get to read through them, but AI has actually likewise assisted me find out quicker."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the solution lies in AI literacy; mentor trainees and lecturers how to use AI as a knowing aid rather than a faster way.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the significance of a well balanced approach that keeps human participation while utilizing AI to enhance finding out results.
"As we navigate the rapidly developing landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is essential that we prioritise human agency in education. We need to ensure that AI enhances, instead of changes, educators' important role in forming young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation specialist, attended to growing concerns concerning making use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible threats to the educational system.

- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, however, highlighted the need for caution in its usage.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance amongst teachers and schools toward including AI tools in finding out environments. She recognized 2 main reasons that AI tools are discouraged in instructional settings: security dangers and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based upon user interactions, which might not line up with the expectations of educators.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, describing that AI does not cater to specific mentor methods.

Plagiarism is another concern, as AI pulls from existing data, typically without correct attribution

"A lot of people need to understand, like I stated, this is data that has been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing details that some other people are fed into it, which in essence suggests that is another person's paperwork," she cautioned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early issue in AI advancement known as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce details that was not accurate.
"Hallucination meant that it was highlighting information from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that details from you, it was going to make one up," she explained.

She recommended "grounding" AI by supplying it with particular details to prevent such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the solution, especially when AI provides an opportunity to leapfrog conventional instructional approaches.

- She thinks that consistently reinforcing key information helps people keep in mind and prevent making mistakes when confronted with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell people the exact same thing over and over once again, when they are about to make the errors, then they'll remember."

She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and procedures within schools, keeping in mind that lots of schools ought to attend to individuals and procedure elements of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually resorted to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I generally use projects to ensure students provide initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this technique difficult.

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

He emphasized the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting exam questions that AI can not quickly solve while acknowledging that some lecturers battle to counter AI abuse due to an absence of technological awareness. "Some lecturers are analogue," he said.

- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, openness, responsibility, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the guideline of AI in education, advising institutions to audit algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they satisfy ethical standards, wifidb.science secure user information, and filter unsuitable content.
- It stresses the need to assess the long-lasting impact of AI on crucial abilities like thinking and creativity while developing policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO advises implementing age restrictions for GenAI use to safeguard more youthful students and secure susceptible groups.
- For governments, it recommended adopting a collaborated national technique to controling GenAI, consisting of developing oversight bodies and lining up regulations with existing data defense and privacy laws. It stresses examining AI risks, implementing more stringent rules for high-risk applications, and making sure national information ownership.