Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming education while making learning more accessible but likewise sparking debates on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their knowing experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic stability, specifically with many trainees unable to protect their projects or offered works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, users.atw.hu in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed frustration over the growing reliance on AI-generated reactions among students recounting a recent experience he had.

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

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

"AI is a major obstacle when it comes to assignments. Many students no longer think critically-they just go on the internet, generate responses, and submit," he included.

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

This dispute raises vital concerns about the role of AI in academic integrity and trainee development.

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

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

Decline of academic rigor

University speakers are increasingly worried about students submitting AI-generated assignments without really comprehending the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his issues to Nairametrics about trainees significantly counting on ChatGPT, only to have a hard time with answering standard questions when evaluated.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send polished tasks, however when asked basic concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating since education is about discovering, not just passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing number of top-notch graduates can not be entirely credited to AI but confessed that even high-performing students utilize these tools.


"A superior trainee is a superior student, AI or not, however that does not suggest they do not cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, but it is making trainees reliant 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 same practice.


"It's not simply students utilizing AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course describes, marking plans, and even examination questions with AI without examining them. Students in turn utilize AI to produce answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating real knowing," he lamented.

Students' perspectives on usage

Students, on the other hand, say AI has actually enhanced their knowing experience by making scholastic products 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 offering summaries of prolonged texts.


"AI helped me comprehend things more easily, specifically when dealing with intricate subjects," she discussed.

However, she remembered a circumstances when she utilized AI to submit her project, only for her lecturer to right away recognize that it was generated by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, addsub.wiki who just recently finished with a superior degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, firmly believes that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his outstanding grades to actively engaging by asking concerns and focusing on areas that speakers emphasize in class, as they are frequently reflected in examination concerns.


"It's all about being present, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to occasionally copying directly from ChatGPT when facing multiple deadlines.


"To be sincere, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have multiple deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the speakers don't get to check out them, however AI has actually likewise assisted me find out faster."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts believe the service lies in AI literacy; mentor students and speakers how to use AI as a learning help rather than a shortcut.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the value of a well balanced approach that preserves human involvement while harnessing AI to enhance discovering outcomes.


"As we navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is important that we prioritise human firm in education. We must ensure that AI boosts, instead of changes, educators' important role in shaping young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity improvement expert, addressed growing issues relating to the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible threats to the instructional system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, nevertheless, stressed the need for care in its use.

- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among educators and schools towards incorporating AI tools in finding out environments. She recognized 2 main reasons AI tools are dissuaded in instructional settings: security threats and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based upon user interactions, which may not line up with the expectations of teachers.


"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade said, scientific-programs.science discussing that AI doesn't deal with particular teaching techniques.

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

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

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early issue in AI development known as "hallucination," where AI tools would generate information that was not factual.


"Hallucination indicated that it was highlighting information 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 service, particularly when AI provides a chance to leapfrog standard instructional approaches.

- She thinks that regularly strengthening crucial info assists people remember and avoid making mistakes when confronted with difficulties.


"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the exact same thing over and over once 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, keeping in mind that lots of schools need to address individuals and procedure elements of this usage.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually turned to in-class assignments and tests to counter AI-driven scholastic dishonesty.


"Now, I mainly use assignments to ensure trainees supply initial work." However, he acknowledged that handling big classes makes this approach difficult.

"If you set intricate questions, students won't have the ability to utilize AI to get direct answers," he described.

He stressed the need for universities to train speakers on crafting test questions that AI can not quickly solve 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, concentrating on ethical AI advancement with fairness, mariskamast.net openness, responsibility, and privacy at its core.

- UNESCO in a report requires the policy of AI in education, advising organizations to investigate algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they fulfill ethical requirements, protect user information, and filter unsuitable content.

- It worries the requirement to assess the long-lasting impact of AI on vital abilities like believing and creativity while producing policies that line up with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO suggests executing age constraints for GenAI usage to protect more youthful students and safeguard vulnerable groups.
- For federal governments, it advised embracing a collaborated national approach to managing GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and lining up guidelines with existing information security and personal privacy laws. It emphasizes assessing AI risks, imposing stricter guidelines for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing national information ownership.