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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reinventing education while making learning more accessible however likewise sparking disputes on its effect.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for prawattasao.awardspace.info boosting their learning experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic stability, particularly with numerous students not able to defend their assignments or provided works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed aggravation over the growing reliance on AI-generated reactions among trainees 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 specific same answers. These students did not even know each other, however they all utilized the very same AI tool to produce their responses," he stated.

He noted that this trend prevails among both undergraduate and postgraduate students but is particularly worrying in part-time and distance knowing programs.

"AI is a serious difficulty when it comes to tasks. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they just go on the internet, produce answers, and submit," he added.

Surprisingly, some lecturers 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 debate raises important questions about the function of AI in scholastic stability and trainee advancement.

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

Since December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent out every day around the world.

Decline of academic rigor

University speakers are increasingly concerned about students sending AI-generated tasks without truly understanding the content.

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

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit refined assignments, but when asked fundamental concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating since education has to do with finding out, not just passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing variety of first-class graduates can not be entirely attributed to AI but admitted that even high-performing students utilize these tools.
"A first-class student is a superior trainee, AI or not, however that does not imply they don't cheat. The benefits of AI might be peripheral, but it is making students dependent and less analytical," he stated.

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

Students' point of views on usage

Students, on the other hand, systemcheck-wiki.de say AI has actually improved their learning experience by making scholastic materials more easy to understand and accessible.

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

However, she recalled a circumstances when she used AI to submit her job, only for her speaker to right away acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated with a first-rate degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely believes that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his impressive grades to actively engaging by asking questions and focusing on areas that lecturers emphasize in class, as they are frequently reflected in examination questions.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to periodically copying directly from ChatGPT when dealing with numerous deadlines.
"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, a lot of times the lecturers do not get to go through them, however AI has actually also helped me learn much faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts believe the service depends on AI literacy; mentor trainees and lecturers how to utilize AI as a learning help instead of a shortcut.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the combination of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the significance of a well balanced approach that preserves human participation while utilizing AI to enhance learning outcomes.
"As we browse the quickly developing landscape of Expert system (AI), it is vital that we prioritise human firm in education. We need to make sure that AI enhances, instead of replaces, educators' important role in shaping young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity improvement specialist, attended to growing issues regarding using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential threats to the educational system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, however, highlighted the requirement for caution in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance amongst and schools towards incorporating AI tools in learning environments. She recognized 2 main reasons that AI tools are discouraged in instructional settings: security risks and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based upon user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of educators.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, explaining that AI doesn't accommodate specific teaching approaches.

Plagiarism is another concern, as AI pulls from existing information, typically without appropriate attribution

"A great deal of individuals require to understand, like I stated, this is data that has actually been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing information 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 issue in AI advancement called "hallucination," where AI tools would produce info that was not factual.
"Hallucination meant that it was drawing out information from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she explained.

She suggested "grounding" AI by supplying it with specific info to prevent such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

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

- She thinks that regularly enhancing key info assists individuals remember and prevent making mistakes when faced with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform individuals the very same thing over and over again, when they will make the errors, then they'll keep in mind."

She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that lots of schools must attend to individuals and procedure aspects of this usage.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually resorted to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven scholastic dishonesty.
"Now, I generally utilize assignments to ensure students offer initial work." However, he acknowledged that handling large classes makes this method hard.

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

He highlighted the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting examination concerns that AI can not easily fix while acknowledging that some lecturers struggle to counter AI abuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some speakers are analogue," he said.

- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, concentrating on ethical AI advancement with fairness, openness, responsibility, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the regulation of AI in education, encouraging organizations to audit algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they satisfy ethical requirements, protect user information, and filter inappropriate material.
- It stresses the requirement to examine the long-term impact of AI on critical abilities like thinking and creativity while creating policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO suggests executing age restrictions for GenAI use to protect more youthful students and secure vulnerable groups.
- For federal governments, it recommended adopting a collaborated nationwide method to regulating GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and lining up guidelines with existing data defense and privacy laws. It stresses evaluating AI risks, enforcing stricter rules for high-risk applications, gantnews.com and making sure nationwide data ownership.