Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing education while making learning more accessible but likewise triggering arguments on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines scholastic stability, specifically with lots of trainees unable to safeguard their tasks or provided works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed aggravation over the growing reliance on AI-generated responses amongst students stating a recent experience he had.

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"I gave a task to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 students, about 40% submitted the specific same answers. These trainees did not even know each other, however they all used the exact same AI tool to create their actions," he stated.

He kept in mind that this trend is common among both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is particularly concerning in part-time and distance learning programs.

"AI is a serious obstacle when it concerns tasks. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they just browse the web, produce responses, and send," he included.

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

This debate raises vital concerns about the function of AI in scholastic integrity and student advancement.

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

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

Decline of scholastic rigor

University lecturers are increasingly concerned about students submitting AI-generated tasks without really comprehending the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about trainees increasingly relying on ChatGPT, just to have problem with answering fundamental concerns when evaluated.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit sleek projects, but when asked basic questions, they go blank. It's disappointing since education is about discovering, not simply passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing number of superior graduates can not be completely attributed to AI however confessed that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.
"A first-class student is a top-notch student, AI or not, however that does not imply they do not cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, however it is making trainees dependent and less analytical," he said.

- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the very same practice.
"It's not simply trainees utilizing AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course describes, marking schemes, and even examination questions with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn utilize AI to create answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine learning," he lamented.

Students' viewpoints on use

Students, on the other hand, galgbtqhistoryproject.org state AI has enhanced their knowing experience by making academic products more reasonable and accessible.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has significantly aided her learning by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI assisted me understand things more easily, especially when handling complex subjects," she discussed.

However, she recalled an instance when she utilized AI to send her project, only for her lecturer to right away recognize that it was created by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a first-rate degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, firmly thinks that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his outstanding grades to actively engaging by asking questions and focusing on areas that speakers emphasize in class, as they are often shown in test concerns.
"It's all about existing, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to occasionally copying directly from ChatGPT when facing several due dates.
"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, most times the speakers don't get to check out them, but AI has actually also assisted me discover quicker."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts believe the option lies in AI literacy; teaching trainees and lecturers how to utilize AI as a knowing help instead of a faster way.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the value of a well balanced method that keeps human involvement while utilizing AI to improve discovering results.
"As we browse the rapidly progressing landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is important that we prioritise human company in education. We should guarantee that AI improves, rather than changes, educators' important role in shaping young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity improvement professional, resolved growing concerns concerning the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential threats to the academic system.

- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, however, stressed the requirement for caution in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance amongst educators and schools towards integrating AI tools in learning environments. She determined two primary reasons that AI tools are dissuaded in academic settings: security risks and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based on user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, discussing that AI does not accommodate particular teaching methods.

Plagiarism is another problem, as AI pulls from existing data, often without appropriate attribution

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

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

She recommended "grounding" AI by providing it with specific info to avoid such errors.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that AI tools outright is not the solution, particularly when AI presents an opportunity to leapfrog conventional academic approaches.

- She thinks that regularly reinforcing key details assists people remember and prevent making errors when faced with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform individuals the exact same thing over and over again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll remember."

She likewise empasized the need for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that numerous schools ought to attend to individuals and process elements of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually turned to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I generally utilize assignments to ensure trainees provide original work." However, he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this technique difficult.

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

He stressed the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting test questions that AI can not easily solve while acknowledging that some lecturers battle to counter AI abuse 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 development with fairness, openness, accountability, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the guideline of AI in education, advising institutions to examine algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they satisfy ethical standards, protect user information, and filter inappropriate content.
- It stresses the need to assess the long-term impact of AI on vital abilities like thinking and creativity while producing policies that line up with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO advises carrying out age limitations for GenAI usage to protect younger students and safeguard vulnerable groups.
- For federal governments, it encouraged embracing a coordinated nationwide approach to regulating GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and lining up policies with existing data security and privacy laws. It emphasizes examining AI dangers, enforcing stricter guidelines for high-risk applications, and ensuring national data ownership.