Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reinventing education while making discovering more available however likewise sparking arguments on its effect.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their knowing experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic integrity, especially with numerous students unable to safeguard their tasks or offered works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed aggravation over the growing dependence on AI-generated responses amongst trainees stating a current experience he had.

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"I offered an assignment to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 students, about 40% sent the specific very same responses. These trainees did not even understand each other, however they all utilized the very same AI tool to create their responses," he stated.

He noted that this trend is widespread amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is particularly worrying in part-time and range learning programs.

"AI is a serious challenge when it concerns projects. Many students no longer think critically-they simply go on the internet, create responses, and submit," he added.

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

This dispute raises crucial concerns about the function of AI in scholastic integrity and trainee advancement.

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in January 2023, only one country had actually released guidelines on generative AI since July 2023.

Since December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million individuals using the AI chatbot each week and 1 billion messages sent every day around the globe.

Decline of scholastic rigor

University lecturers are progressively concerned about trainees submitting AI-generated tasks without really understanding the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about trainees significantly counting on ChatGPT, only to have problem with answering basic concerns when tested.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit refined assignments, but when asked standard concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing since education is about finding out, not just passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing number of first-class graduates can not be totally attributed to AI however confessed that even high-performing trainees use these tools.
"A top-notch trainee is a superior trainee, AI or not, however that does not indicate they don't cheat. The advantages of AI might be peripheral, but it is making trainees dependent and less analytical," he said.

- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various issue that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the same practice.
"It's not simply students using AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course outlines, marking plans, and even exam questions with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn use AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine learning," he regreted.

Students' perspectives on use

Students, on the other hand, state AI has enhanced their knowing experience by making scholastic products more understandable 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 offering summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI assisted me understand things more easily, specifically when handling complex topics," she explained.

However, she recalled an instance when she utilized AI to send her project, only for her lecturer to right away acknowledge that it was generated by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad impact.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a superior degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, strongly believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his impressive grades to actively interesting by asking questions and concentrating on areas that lecturers highlight in class, as they are often shown in exam concerns.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, admits to periodically copying straight from ChatGPT when facing multiple due dates.
"To be sincere, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have numerous deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers don't get to go through them, however AI has actually also helped me learn quicker."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts think the service depends on AI literacy; mentor students and speakers how to use AI as a knowing help instead of a faster way.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the combination of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the value of a well balanced approach that preserves human involvement while utilizing AI to improve discovering outcomes.
"As we navigate the quickly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is crucial that we prioritise human firm in education. We should guarantee that AI boosts, instead of changes, teachers' important function in shaping young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation professional, attended to growing issues concerning making use of synthetic intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential risks to the academic system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, however, emphasized the need for caution in its usage.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance amongst educators and schools towards integrating AI tools in discovering environments. She identified two main reasons that AI tools are dissuaded in educational settings: security dangers and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based upon user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of educators.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, describing that AI does not deal with particular mentor methods.

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

"A great deal of individuals need to understand, like I stated, this is information that has actually 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 means that is another person's paperwork," she warned.

- Additionally, suvenir51.ru Akintade highlighted an early concern in AI advancement referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would generate info that was not accurate.
"Hallucination implied that it was bringing out info from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that details from you, it was going to make one up," she described.

She advised "grounding" AI by supplying it with particular details to avoid such errors.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the option, wiki-tb-service.com especially when AI presents a chance to leapfrog conventional educational techniques.

- She believes that regularly enhancing key info helps individuals keep in mind and avoid making errors when faced with challenges.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell people the same thing over and over once again, when they are about to make the errors, then they'll keep in mind."

She also empasized the need for clear policies and procedures within schools, keeping in mind that numerous schools ought to address the people and process elements of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has turned to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven scholastic dishonesty.
"Now, I mainly utilize projects to guarantee trainees offer original work." However, he acknowledged that handling large classes makes this approach challenging.

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

He stressed the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting test questions that AI can not easily fix while acknowledging that some lecturers battle to counter AI misuse due to an absence of technological awareness. "Some lecturers 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 calls for the policy of AI in education, recommending institutions to examine algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they meet ethical standards, safeguard user data, and filter inappropriate content.
- It stresses the need to assess the long-term impact of AI on important abilities like thinking and creativity while producing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO recommends implementing age constraints for GenAI usage to secure younger students and protect vulnerable groups.
- For governments, it advised adopting a coordinated national technique to controling GenAI, including developing oversight bodies and aligning guidelines with existing information protection and privacy laws. It highlights examining AI risks, implementing stricter rules for high-risk applications, and information ownership.