Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing education while making learning more available however also stimulating debates on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their knowing experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, specifically with numerous trainees not able to safeguard their projects or offered works.

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

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

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

"AI is a major difficulty when it comes to tasks. Many students no longer think critically-they simply go on the internet, create responses, and send," he included.

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

This dispute raises vital questions about the function of AI in scholastic integrity and student advancement.

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million month-to-month active users in January 2023, setiathome.berkeley.edu only one country had launched policies on generative AI since July 2023.

Since December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million individuals using the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent out every day worldwide.

Decline of academic rigor

University speakers are increasingly concerned about trainees sending AI-generated assignments without genuinely comprehending the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, elearnportal.science expressed his issues to Nairametrics about trainees progressively depending on ChatGPT, just to have problem with answering basic concerns when checked.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit refined tasks, but when asked basic questions, they go blank. It's frustrating because education is about learning, not simply passing courses," he stated.

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

- Another lecturer, akropolistravel.com Dr. Ereke, wiki.lexserve.co.ke from Ebonyi State University, raised a different concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the same practice.
"It's not simply trainees using AI slackly. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course describes, marking plans, and even examination concerns with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn use AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine knowing," he lamented.

Students' point of views on usage

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

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has substantially aided her knowing by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI assisted me comprehend things more quickly, especially when dealing with intricate subjects," she explained.

However, she recalled a when she used AI to submit her task, only for her lecturer to instantly acknowledge that it was generated by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, firmly thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his impressive grades to actively engaging by asking questions and focusing on areas that lecturers stress in class, as they are typically reflected in exam questions.
"It's everything about existing, focusing, and taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge shared by my colleagues," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to sometimes copying directly from ChatGPT when dealing with 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, the majority of times the lecturers don't get to read through them, however AI has actually also assisted me find out faster."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts think the option depends on AI literacy; mentor trainees and speakers how to use AI as a knowing help rather than a shortcut.

- Minister of Education, 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 harnessing AI to improve finding out outcomes.
"As we navigate the quickly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is important that we prioritise human firm in education. We need to guarantee that AI boosts, instead of changes, educators' important role in shaping young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation specialist, addressed growing concerns regarding making use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential threats to the instructional system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, nevertheless, highlighted the need for care in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among educators and schools toward incorporating AI tools in learning environments. She identified two main reasons why AI tools are discouraged in academic settings: security risks and plagiarism. She described that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based on user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade said, describing that AI doesn't deal with particular teaching methods.

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

"A great deal of individuals need to comprehend, like I said, this is data that has actually been trained on. It is not just 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 documents," she warned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI development called "hallucination," where AI tools would create info that was not accurate.
"Hallucination implied 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 advised "grounding" AI by supplying it with specific details to prevent such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the service, particularly when AI provides an opportunity to leapfrog standard academic methods.

- She thinks that consistently reinforcing key details assists people remember and avoid making errors when faced with difficulties.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the same thing over and over once again, when they are about to make the errors, then they'll keep in mind."

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

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has resorted to in-class tasks and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I mainly utilize assignments to ensure trainees provide initial work." However, forum.altaycoins.com he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this method hard.

"If you set complicated questions, students will not have the ability to use AI to get direct answers," he described.

He stressed the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting examination questions that AI can not quickly solve while acknowledging that some lecturers struggle to counter AI misuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some speakers 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 regulation of AI in education, links.gtanet.com.br recommending organizations to audit algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they satisfy ethical requirements, secure user data, and filter inappropriate content.
- It stresses the need to assess the long-term impact of AI on crucial abilities like believing and imagination while developing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO advises carrying out age restrictions for GenAI use to safeguard more youthful trainees and protect vulnerable groups.
- For governments, it advised adopting a coordinated national approach to regulating GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and lining up regulations with existing information security and privacy laws. It emphasizes examining AI threats, imposing more stringent guidelines for high-risk applications, and ensuring nationwide information ownership.