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Expert System (AI) is revolutionizing education while making discovering more available but likewise triggering disputes on its effect.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines scholastic integrity, specifically with lots of students not able to defend their projects or given works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed frustration over the growing reliance on AI-generated actions amongst students recounting a current experience he had.

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"I provided an assignment to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 students, about 40% submitted the precise very same responses. These trainees did not even understand each other, but they all used the exact same AI tool to generate their reactions," he said.

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

"AI is a severe obstacle when it concerns projects. Many students no longer believe critically-they just go online, create answers, and send," he included.

Surprisingly, some speakers 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 important concerns about the role of AI in academic integrity and trainee development.

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

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

Decline of academic rigor

University lecturers are significantly worried about trainees sending AI-generated projects without truly understanding the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his issues to Nairametrics about trainees increasingly relying on ChatGPT, only to fight with addressing standard concerns when evaluated.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send refined projects, however when asked fundamental questions, they go blank. It's disappointing because education is about finding out, not just passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing number of first-class graduates can not be completely credited to AI but admitted that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.
"A first-class student is a first-rate student, AI or not, however that doesn't suggest they don't cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, however it is making students reliant and less analytical," he said.

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

Students' perspectives on use

Students, on the other hand, state AI has actually improved 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 substantially helped her knowing by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI assisted me comprehend things more easily, specifically when handling intricate topics," she explained.

However, she remembered an instance when she utilized AI to submit her job, annunciogratis.net only for her lecturer to right away acknowledge that it was created by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind 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, firmly believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his exceptional grades to actively interesting by asking questions and focusing on locations that lecturers highlight in class, as they are typically reflected in test questions.
"It's everything about existing, paying attention, and using the wealth of understanding shared by my coworkers," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to periodically copying directly from ChatGPT when facing multiple due dates.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have several due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, the majority of times the speakers don't get to check out them, however AI has also helped me learn much faster."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts think the solution depends on AI literacy; mentor students 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, stressing the significance of a balanced method that maintains human participation while harnessing AI to enhance finding out outcomes.
"As we browse the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is crucial that we prioritise human company in education. We need to make sure that AI improves, instead of replaces, teachers' essential function in forming young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

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

- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, however, highlighted the requirement for care in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among educators and schools toward integrating AI tools in discovering 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 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 doesn't cater to particular teaching techniques.

Plagiarism is another problem, as AI pulls from existing information, frequently without proper attribution

"A lot of people need 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 details that some other individuals are fed into it, which in essence suggests that is another person's documents," she cautioned.

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

She suggested "grounding" AI by offering it with particular information to avoid such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

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

- She thinks that regularly reinforcing essential information helps individuals remember and avoid making mistakes when confronted with difficulties.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform people the same thing over and over again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll remember."

She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and procedures within schools, noting that numerous schools should address individuals and procedure elements of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually turned to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven scholastic dishonesty.
"Now, I mainly use projects to guarantee students provide initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this technique tough.

"If you set intricate concerns, trainees will not be able to use AI to get direct responses," he discussed.

He stressed the requirement for universities to train lecturers on crafting test concerns that AI can not easily solve while acknowledging that some speakers struggle to counter AI misuse due to a lack 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, responsibility, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the policy of AI in education, recommending organizations to investigate algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they satisfy ethical standards, secure user data, and filter unsuitable content.
- It worries the need to examine the long-term impact of AI on important skills like believing and creativity while producing policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO recommends implementing age limitations for GenAI use to protect more youthful trainees and secure vulnerable groups.
- For governments, it encouraged adopting a coordinated national method to managing GenAI, including developing oversight bodies and aligning guidelines with existing information security and personal privacy laws. It highlights assessing AI dangers, imposing stricter rules for high-risk applications, and ensuring national data ownership.