Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing education while making discovering more accessible however likewise sparking arguments on its impact.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their knowing experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens scholastic integrity, particularly with lots of trainees not able to safeguard their assignments or given works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed frustration over the growing dependence on AI-generated responses among trainees recounting a recent experience he had.

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"I gave an assignment to my MBA students, and out of over 100 students, about 40% sent the specific same answers. These trainees did not even know each other, however they all used the exact same AI tool to create their reactions," he said.

He kept in mind that this trend prevails among both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees but is especially concerning in part-time and range learning programs.

"AI is a major difficulty when it concerns assignments. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they just browse the web, create responses, and submit," he included.

Surprisingly, some lecturers are likewise accused of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both teachers and trainees turn to AI for benefit rather than intellectual rigor.

This dispute raises critical concerns about the role of AI in academic stability and .

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million month-to-month active users in January 2023, only one country had actually launched regulations on generative AI since July 2023.

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

Decline of academic rigor

University lecturers are increasingly concerned about trainees submitting AI-generated projects without genuinely comprehending the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about trainees increasingly counting on ChatGPT, only to have problem with responding to fundamental questions when tested.

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and send sleek tasks, but when asked standard concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing because education has to do with discovering, not just passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing variety of top-notch graduates can not be entirely credited to AI however admitted that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.
"A first-class trainee is a first-rate trainee, AI or not, but that does not imply they do not cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, however it is making students reliant and less analytical," he stated.

- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not simply trainees using AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course outlines, marking plans, and even exam concerns with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn utilize AI to create responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating real knowing," he lamented.

Students' viewpoints on usage

Students, on the other hand, say AI has actually enhanced their learning experience by making academic materials more reasonable and available.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has actually significantly helped her learning by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI assisted me comprehend things more easily, particularly when dealing with complex topics," she explained.

However, she remembered a circumstances when she utilized AI to send her task, only for her speaker to right away acknowledge that it was created by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad impact.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his outstanding grades to actively appealing by asking questions and concentrating on areas that lecturers highlight in class, as they are typically shown in test questions.
"It's all about existing, paying attention, and taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge shared by my associates," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to periodically copying straight from ChatGPT when facing numerous due dates.
"To be sincere, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have numerous due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers don't get to check out them, but AI has likewise assisted me learn much faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the solution lies in AI literacy; teaching students and lecturers how to utilize AI as a knowing help rather than a faster way.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the significance of a well balanced method that keeps human involvement while utilizing AI to improve learning results.
"As we navigate the rapidly developing landscape of Expert system (AI), it is vital that we prioritise human company in education. We should make sure that AI improves, rather than replaces, teachers' crucial function in shaping young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, setiathome.berkeley.edu a cybersecurity improvement expert, attended to growing issues concerning using expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible threats to the academic system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, however, stressed the requirement for caution in its usage.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance amongst educators and schools toward including AI tools in finding out environments. She determined two main reasons AI tools are discouraged in academic settings: security risks and plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based upon user interactions, which may not line up with the expectations of educators.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, discussing that AI does not deal with particular mentor techniques.

Plagiarism is another issue, as AI pulls from existing information, typically without correct attribution

"A great deal of people require to comprehend, like I stated, this is information 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 implies that is another individual's paperwork," she cautioned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early concern in AI advancement known as "hallucination," where AI tools would create info that was not accurate.
"Hallucination indicated that it was bringing out details from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she discussed.

She advised "grounding" AI by offering it with particular info to avoid such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the solution, particularly when AI presents a chance to leapfrog traditional educational methods.

- She believes that regularly enhancing key details helps individuals keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when confronted with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform individuals the same thing over and over again, when they are about to make the mistakes, then they'll remember."

She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that numerous schools must address individuals and process aspects of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually resorted to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I mainly utilize tasks to ensure trainees offer initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing big classes makes this technique hard.

"If you set complicated concerns, students will not have the ability to utilize AI to get direct answers," he explained.

He stressed the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting test questions that AI can not quickly solve while acknowledging that some lecturers battle to counter AI abuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some speakers are analogue," he stated.

- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, fakenews.win concentrating on ethical AI advancement with fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the policy of AI in education, recommending organizations to audit algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they fulfill ethical standards, safeguard user data, wavedream.wiki and filter unsuitable material.
- It stresses the requirement to assess the long-lasting impact of AI on critical skills like believing and creativity while producing policies that line up with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO advises implementing age restrictions for GenAI usage to safeguard more youthful trainees and protect susceptible groups.
- For federal governments, it advised adopting a coordinated national approach to regulating GenAI, consisting of establishing oversight bodies and aligning policies with existing data protection and users.atw.hu privacy laws. It emphasizes examining AI risks, imposing more stringent rules for high-risk applications, and ensuring national data ownership.