Expert System (AI) is changing education while making finding out more available but also sparking debates on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, smfsimple.com which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, specifically with many trainees not able to protect their assignments or provided works.

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

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"I offered a task to my MBA students, and out of over 100 students, about 40% sent the exact same answers. These trainees did not even understand each other, however they all used the same AI tool to generate their actions," he said.

He noted that this trend is prevalent among both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees but is particularly worrying in part-time and range learning programs.

"AI is a serious difficulty when it pertains to projects. Many students no longer think critically-they simply go online, produce answers, and send," he included.

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

This argument raises important concerns about the function of AI in scholastic integrity 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 actually launched policies on generative AI as of July 2023.

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

Decline of academic rigor

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

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students increasingly relying on ChatGPT, only to have problem with addressing basic concerns when checked.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send refined projects, however when asked standard questions, they go blank. It's disappointing because education has to do with learning, not simply passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing number of first-rate graduates can not be totally credited to AI however admitted that even high-performing students utilize these tools.
"A first-class trainee is a superior trainee, AI or not, but that does not imply they don't cheat. The advantages of AI might be peripheral, however it is making trainees reliant and less analytical," he stated.

- 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 just trainees using AI lazily. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, produce lesson notes, course lays out, marking schemes, and even exam concerns with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn utilize AI to generate responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine knowing," he regreted.

Students' viewpoints on usage

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

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

However, she remembered a circumstances when she used AI to send her task, just for her speaker to instantly recognize that it was created by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad impact.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his impressive grades to actively interesting by asking concerns and focusing on areas that lecturers emphasize in class, as they are often reflected in test questions.
"It's everything about being present, focusing, and taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge shared by my associates," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to occasionally copying directly from ChatGPT when facing numerous due dates.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have numerous deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, the majority of times the lecturers don't get to check out through them, however AI has actually also helped me find out much faster."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts think the service depends on AI literacy; teaching students and lecturers how to utilize 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 technique that preserves while harnessing AI to improve finding out results.
"As we browse the quickly progressing landscape of Expert system (AI), it is vital that we prioritise human firm in education. We need to ensure that AI improves, rather than replaces, teachers' important function in forming young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity improvement expert, attended to growing concerns concerning using expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible dangers to the instructional system.

- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, nevertheless, highlighted the need for care in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance among teachers and schools toward incorporating AI tools in finding out environments. She identified 2 main reasons AI tools are prevented in instructional 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 doesn't accommodate particular mentor techniques.

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

"A lot of individuals require 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 documentation," she warned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI development referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce info that was not factual.
"Hallucination suggested that it was highlighting information from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she described.

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

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the service, especially when AI provides an opportunity to leapfrog conventional academic techniques.

- She believes that consistently strengthening essential details assists individuals keep in mind and avoid making errors when faced with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the very same thing over and over once again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll remember."

She also empasized the need for clear policies and treatments within schools, keeping in mind that many schools ought to attend to the individuals and process aspects of this usage.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has turned to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I primarily utilize assignments to make sure trainees offer initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing big classes makes this method challenging.

"If you set complex questions, students won't be able to use AI to get direct responses," he explained.

He emphasized the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting examination concerns that AI can not quickly resolve while acknowledging that some lecturers battle to counter AI misuse due to an absence of technological awareness. "Some lecturers are analogue," he stated.

- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, transparency, responsibility, and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the regulation of AI in education, encouraging organizations to investigate algorithms, utahsyardsale.com data, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they fulfill ethical requirements, safeguard user data, and filter inappropriate material.
- It worries the need to evaluate the long-term impact of AI on important skills like thinking and imagination while developing policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO recommends implementing age constraints for GenAI use to protect younger trainees and secure susceptible groups.
- For federal governments, it advised embracing a coordinated national approach to managing GenAI, consisting of developing oversight bodies and aligning guidelines with existing data security and personal privacy laws. It highlights examining AI risks, enforcing stricter rules for high-risk applications, and making sure national information ownership.