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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing education while making finding out more accessible however likewise sparking disputes on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their knowing experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, especially with lots of students not able to defend their projects or provided works.

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

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"I provided a task to my MBA students, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% submitted the precise same answers. These students did not even know each other, but they all used the very same AI tool to create their actions," he said.

He noted that this trend is common amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is especially worrying in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a severe obstacle when it pertains to tasks. Many students no longer think critically-they just browse the web, generate responses, and send," 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 rather than intellectual rigor.

This dispute raises critical concerns about the function of AI in academic stability and student development.

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

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

Decline of scholastic rigor

University lecturers are progressively worried about students submitting AI-generated projects without truly understanding the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his issues to Nairametrics about students significantly relying on ChatGPT, just to fight with answering fundamental concerns when evaluated.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit refined tasks, however when asked fundamental questions, they go blank. It's frustrating due to the fact that education is about discovering, not just passing courses," he said.

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

- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different issue that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the very same practice.
"It's not just students utilizing AI lazily. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, produce lesson notes, course outlines, marking plans, and even test concerns with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn utilize AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing real knowing," he lamented.

Students' perspectives on usage

Students, on the other hand, say AI has enhanced their knowing experience by making academic materials more easy to understand and available.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee 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 quickly, particularly when handling intricate subjects," she discussed.

However, she remembered a circumstances when she used AI to submit her project, just for her speaker to immediately acknowledge that it was generated by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated with a first-class degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, oke.zone strongly thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his impressive grades to actively appealing by asking concerns and concentrating on areas that speakers highlight in class, as they are frequently reflected in test concerns.
"It's all about existing, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my coworkers," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to occasionally copying directly from ChatGPT when facing numerous deadlines.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have several deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers don't get to review them, but AI has also helped me find out faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the service lies in AI literacy; teaching students and lecturers how to utilize AI as a knowing help rather than a shortcut.

of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the importance of a well balanced technique that maintains human involvement while utilizing AI to enhance discovering outcomes.
"As we browse the quickly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is important that we prioritise human company in education. We need to make sure that AI boosts, rather than replaces, teachers' essential role in shaping young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

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

- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, nevertheless, stressed the need for care in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance amongst educators and schools toward incorporating AI tools in learning environments. She recognized 2 main factors why AI tools are prevented in instructional settings: security risks and plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based on user interactions, which might not line up with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade said, discussing that AI doesn't deal with specific teaching techniques.

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

"A great deal of individuals need to comprehend, like I stated, this is data that has been trained on. It is not simply bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing info 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 called "hallucination," where AI tools would create info that was not accurate.
"Hallucination implied that it was drawing out info from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that info from you, it was going to make one up," she described.

She suggested "grounding" AI by providing it with specific details to prevent such errors.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the solution, especially when AI presents a chance to leapfrog traditional academic methods.

- She thinks that consistently enhancing key details assists individuals remember and avoid making mistakes when faced with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform people the same thing over and over again, when they will 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 many schools must attend to the individuals and procedure aspects of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually turned to in-class tasks and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I generally utilize assignments to make sure trainees supply initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this approach challenging.

"If you set complex questions, trainees won't have the ability to utilize AI to get direct responses," he explained.

He stressed the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting exam questions that AI can not quickly resolve while acknowledging that some lecturers struggle to counter AI misuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some speakers are analogue," he stated.

- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, transparency, accountability, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the guideline of AI in education, encouraging organizations to investigate algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they meet ethical standards, protect user information, and filter unsuitable material.
- It worries the need to evaluate the long-lasting effect of AI on critical skills like thinking and imagination while producing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO recommends implementing age limitations for GenAI usage to protect younger students and secure susceptible groups.
- For federal governments, it encouraged adopting a collaborated nationwide approach to controling GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and aligning policies with existing information security and privacy laws. It emphasizes examining AI threats, enforcing stricter rules for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing national data ownership.