Expert System (AI) is changing education while making finding out more available however also sparking disputes on its effect.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their learning experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, particularly with many trainees not able to safeguard their assignments or offered works.

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

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

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

"AI is a severe challenge when it comes to assignments. Many students no longer think critically-they simply go on the internet, create answers, and submit," he added.

Surprisingly, some speakers are likewise implicated of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both educators and students turn to AI for benefit instead of intellectual rigor.

This argument raises vital questions about the function of AI in academic stability and student advancement.

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

As of December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million people using the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent out every day worldwide.

Decline of academic rigor

University lecturers are progressively worried about students sending AI-generated assignments without really comprehending the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his issues to Nairametrics about students significantly counting on ChatGPT, only to fight with addressing basic questions when evaluated.

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

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of first-rate graduates can not be totally credited to AI but admitted that even high-performing trainees use these tools.
"A first-rate student is a top-notch trainee, AI or not, but that does not indicate they don't cheat. The advantages of AI might 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 same practice.
"It's not simply students utilizing 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 killing real learning," he lamented.

Students' point of views on use

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

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

However, she remembered a circumstances when she used AI to submit her task, just for her speaker to instantly acknowledge that it was created by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated 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 interesting by asking concerns and concentrating on areas that lecturers stress in class, as they are typically reflected in exam concerns.
"It's all about existing, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of knowledge shared by my colleagues," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to periodically copying directly from ChatGPT when facing several deadlines.
"To be sincere, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have numerous deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, the majority of times the speakers don't get to review them, but AI has also assisted me learn quicker."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts think the option lies in AI literacy; mentor bphomesteading.com trainees and lecturers how to use AI as a learning aid rather than a shortcut.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the combination of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the significance of a balanced technique that keeps human involvement while harnessing AI to enhance discovering outcomes.
"As we navigate the quickly developing landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is vital that we prioritise human company in education. We must guarantee that AI boosts, rather than changes, teachers' important function in forming young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity change professional, attended to growing concerns regarding making use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential risks to the academic system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, nevertheless, highlighted the requirement for care in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among educators and schools towards including AI tools in discovering environments. She recognized two primary reasons that AI tools are dissuaded in instructional settings: security dangers and plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based upon user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade said, describing that AI doesn't cater to specific mentor techniques.

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

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

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI advancement referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce details that was not accurate.
"Hallucination implied that it was bringing out details from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that info from you, it was going to make one up," she explained.

She suggested "grounding" AI by providing it with particular information to prevent such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the solution, particularly when AI provides a chance to leapfrog standard instructional techniques.

- She thinks that consistently strengthening key details helps people keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when faced with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform people the same thing over and over once again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll keep in mind."

She likewise empasized the requirement for clear policies and procedures within schools, wavedream.wiki noting that numerous schools should address individuals and procedure aspects of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has turned to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I primarily utilize assignments to guarantee students supply initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing big classes makes this .

"If you set complicated questions, students won't have the ability to use AI to get direct responses," he explained.

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

- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, concentrating on ethical AI development with fairness, transparency, accountability, forum.pinoo.com.tr and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the policy of AI in education, encouraging organizations to investigate algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they fulfill ethical standards, secure user data, and filter improper content.
- It stresses the need to assess the long-term effect of AI on crucial abilities like believing and creativity while creating policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO suggests executing age constraints for GenAI use to secure more youthful trainees and safeguard susceptible groups.
- For governments, it encouraged adopting a coordinated nationwide technique to regulating GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and lining up guidelines with existing information defense and personal privacy laws. It highlights evaluating AI dangers, enforcing more stringent rules for high-risk applications, and ensuring national information ownership.