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Expert System (AI) is transforming education while making finding out more accessible however also sparking debates on its effect.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their knowing experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic stability, specifically with lots of students unable to protect their projects or provided 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 among trainees recounting a recent experience he had.

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"I gave 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 know each other, however they all utilized the very same AI tool to create their reactions," he said.

He kept in mind that this trend is widespread amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is specifically worrying in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a major obstacle when it concerns tasks. Many students no longer think critically-they just go online, produce responses, and send," he included.

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

This argument raises critical concerns about the role of AI in academic integrity and student development.

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

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

Decline of scholastic rigor

University speakers are increasingly concerned about students sending AI-generated projects without really understanding the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students progressively depending on ChatGPT, only to struggle with addressing basic questions when checked.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send polished tasks, but when asked fundamental questions, they go blank. It's disappointing since education has to do with discovering, not just passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of first-class graduates can not be totally associated to AI but admitted that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A first-rate trainee is a top-notch trainee, AI or not, but that does not imply they do not 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, gratisafhalen.be raised a various concern that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not simply students using AI lazily. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course describes, marking schemes, and even test questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn use AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing real learning," he lamented.

Students' point of views on usage

Students, on the other hand, state AI has improved their knowing experience by making academic materials more understandable and accessible.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has substantially aided her learning by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI assisted me understand things more quickly, particularly when handling complicated topics," she explained.

However, she recalled a circumstances when she utilized AI to send her job, just for her lecturer to immediately acknowledge that it was generated by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, firmly thinks that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his outstanding grades to actively engaging by asking questions and concentrating on areas that lecturers highlight in class, as they are frequently reflected in test questions.
"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, admits to occasionally copying straight from ChatGPT when facing several due dates.
"To be sincere, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have several deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, the majority of times the speakers don't get to check out them, however AI has actually likewise assisted me find out much faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the solution depends on AI literacy; mentor students and lecturers how to utilize AI as a knowing aid instead of a faster way.

- Minister of Education, trade-britanica.trade Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the significance of a balanced technique that keeps human involvement while utilizing AI to improve finding out outcomes.
"As we navigate the rapidly progressing landscape of Expert system (AI), it is vital that we prioritise human agency in education. We must make sure that AI improves, rather than replaces, educators' important function in shaping young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity change specialist, attended to growing concerns concerning the usage of synthetic intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their prospective threats to the educational system.

- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, however, stressed the need for caution in its usage.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance among educators and schools towards including AI tools in discovering environments. She recognized 2 main factors why AI tools are dissuaded in instructional settings: security risks 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 taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade said, explaining that AI does not accommodate specific teaching methods.

Plagiarism is another issue, as AI pulls from existing information, typically without appropriate attribution

"A great deal of people require to understand, like I stated, this is information that has been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing information that some other individuals are fed into it, which in essence implies that is another person's paperwork," she cautioned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI advancement referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would create details that was not factual.
"Hallucination implied that it was drawing 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 supplying it with particular details to avoid such errors.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the option, especially when AI provides a chance to leapfrog traditional academic techniques.

- She thinks that regularly enhancing key info assists people keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when faced with challenges.
"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 remember."

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

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has resorted to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven scholastic dishonesty.
"Now, I mainly use projects to ensure students offer initial work." However, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this method difficult.

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

He emphasized the need for universities to train speakers 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 speakers are analogue," he stated.

- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, openness, accountability, and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the policy of AI in education, recommending institutions to audit algorithms, data, asteroidsathome.net and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they standards, protect user information, and filter improper content.
- It stresses the need to evaluate the long-term impact of AI on crucial abilities like thinking and imagination while developing policies that line up with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO recommends carrying out age restrictions for GenAI use to secure younger trainees and protect susceptible groups.
- For governments, it encouraged adopting a collaborated national method to regulating GenAI, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de consisting of establishing oversight bodies and users.atw.hu aligning policies with existing information defense and privacy laws. It stresses examining AI risks, implementing stricter rules for high-risk applications, and making sure nationwide information ownership.