Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reinventing education while making discovering more available but also sparking arguments on its impact.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their learning 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 unable to safeguard their tasks or offered works.

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

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"I gave a task to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 students, about 40% sent the precise same responses. These trainees did not even understand each other, however they all used the exact same AI tool to create their reactions," he said.

He noted that this trend is prevalent among both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is specifically worrying in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a serious difficulty when it comes to projects. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they just go online, produce responses, and send," he included.

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

This debate raises crucial concerns about the role of AI in scholastic integrity and student advancement.

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million regular monthly active users in January 2023, only one country had launched guidelines on generative AI as of July 2023.

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

Decline of scholastic rigor

University speakers are progressively concerned about trainees submitting AI-generated assignments without really understanding the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students increasingly relying on ChatGPT, utahsyardsale.com just to have problem with responding to fundamental questions when evaluated.

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and send sleek tasks, but when asked basic concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating because education has to do with learning, not simply passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing number of first-class graduates can not be completely associated to AI but confessed that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A superior student is a first-class student, AI or not, however that doesn't indicate they don't cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, however it is making trainees dependent and less analytical," he stated.

- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various concern that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the very same practice.
"It's not simply students utilizing AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, produce lesson notes, course details, marking schemes, and even examination questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn use AI to create responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine knowing," he lamented.

Students' viewpoints on usage

Students, on the other hand, state AI has enhanced their knowing experience by making academic products more easy to understand and accessible.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has actually significantly assisted her knowing by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI assisted me comprehend things more easily, specifically when handling complex subjects," she described.

However, she remembered an instance when she utilized AI to send her job, just for her lecturer to instantly acknowledge that it was created by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated with a first-class 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 exceptional grades to actively engaging by asking concerns and focusing on locations that lecturers highlight in class, as they are frequently reflected in test concerns.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, admits to occasionally copying directly from ChatGPT when facing several due dates.
"To be sincere, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the speakers do not get to go through them, but AI has likewise assisted me discover faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the solution depends on AI literacy; mentor trainees and lecturers how to use AI as a learning aid instead of a faster way.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the value of a balanced technique that keeps human participation while harnessing AI to enhance learning outcomes.
"As we navigate the quickly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is essential that we prioritise human agency in education. We should guarantee that AI improves, instead of replaces, teachers' vital role in forming young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity improvement specialist, dealt with growing concerns regarding making use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their prospective dangers to the instructional system.

- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, nevertheless, stressed the requirement for care in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance amongst teachers and schools toward incorporating AI tools in learning environments. She recognized 2 main reasons AI tools are discouraged in academic settings: security risks and plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based on user interactions, which might not line up with the expectations of educators.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade said, discussing that AI does not accommodate specific teaching techniques.

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

"A lot of people need to comprehend, like I said, this is information that has actually been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing info that some other people are fed into it, which in essence suggests that is another individual's documentation," she warned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI development referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would generate info that was not factual.
"Hallucination suggested that it was drawing out details from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she explained.

She recommended "grounding" AI by offering it with particular info to prevent such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the service, especially when AI provides an opportunity to leapfrog conventional academic approaches.

- She believes that consistently reinforcing key information assists people keep in mind and forum.batman.gainedge.org avoid making mistakes when confronted with challenges.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform people the same thing over and over again, when they will make the errors, then they'll keep in mind."

She also empasized the need for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that many schools should attend to the people and procedure elements of this usage.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has turned to in-class assignments and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I generally use tasks to ensure students supply original work." However, idaivelai.com he acknowledged that handling large classes makes this method hard.

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

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

- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, transparency, accountability, shiapedia.1god.org and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the guideline of AI in education, encouraging organizations to examine algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they meet ethical requirements, protect user data, and filter improper material.
- It stresses the need to assess the long-lasting effect of AI on important abilities like believing and imagination while developing policies that line up with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO suggests implementing age limitations for wikitravel.org GenAI usage to protect younger students and secure vulnerable groups.
- For governments, online-learning-initiative.org it recommended adopting a collaborated national method to managing GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and lining up guidelines with existing data protection and . It emphasizes assessing AI risks, implementing more stringent rules for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing national data ownership.