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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming education while making finding out more accessible but also stimulating debates on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their knowing experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, specifically with many students unable to defend 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 reactions amongst students stating a current experience he had.

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"I gave an assignment to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% sent the specific very same answers. These trainees did not even know each other, however they all used the same AI tool to produce their actions," he said.

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

"AI is a major challenge when it comes to assignments. Many students no longer believe critically-they simply go on the internet, produce answers, and submit," he included.

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

This dispute raises important concerns about the role of AI in scholastic stability and trainee advancement.

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

Since December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million people using the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent every day worldwide.

Decline of academic rigor

University speakers are increasingly concerned about trainees submitting AI-generated projects without genuinely comprehending the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his issues to Nairametrics about trainees progressively counting on ChatGPT, just to struggle with responding to basic questions when checked.

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

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing variety of first-rate graduates can not be entirely associated to AI but that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.
"A superior student is a first-rate trainee, AI or not, but that does not suggest they don't cheat. The advantages of AI might be peripheral, however it is making students dependent 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 simply trainees using AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, produce lesson notes, course lays out, marking schemes, and even exam questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn utilize AI to create responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine learning," he lamented.

Students' viewpoints on use

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

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has actually substantially aided her knowing by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI helped me understand things more easily, especially when handling complex subjects," she explained.

However, she remembered a circumstances when she used AI to submit her job, only for her lecturer to instantly acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a superior 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 impressive grades to actively interesting by asking questions and focusing on locations that speakers emphasize in class, as they are frequently shown in test concerns.
"It's all about being present, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of knowledge shared by my associates," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to sometimes copying straight from ChatGPT when dealing with multiple deadlines.
"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have numerous deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, many times the speakers do not get to review them, but AI has actually also helped me discover much faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts believe the option depends on AI literacy; teaching students and lecturers how to use AI as a knowing aid instead of a faster way.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the importance of a well balanced technique that preserves human participation while utilizing AI to improve learning results.
"As we navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is important that we prioritise human firm in education. We should guarantee that AI boosts, instead of replaces, teachers' crucial function in forming young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation expert, oke.zone resolved growing issues concerning the use of synthetic intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential dangers to the academic system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, nevertheless, stressed the need for caution in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance amongst teachers and users.atw.hu schools toward including AI tools in finding out environments. She determined 2 primary reasons AI tools are prevented in educational settings: security threats and plagiarism. She described that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based upon user interactions, which might not align with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, explaining that AI doesn't cater to specific teaching approaches.

Plagiarism is another issue, as AI pulls from existing data, often without proper attribution

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

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

She suggested "grounding" AI by supplying it with specific details to avoid such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

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

- She thinks that consistently strengthening crucial details assists people keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when faced with difficulties.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform individuals the very same thing over and over once again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll keep in mind."

She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and treatments within schools, keeping in mind that lots of schools ought to address individuals and procedure aspects of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has resorted to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I mainly utilize assignments to guarantee trainees offer original work." However, he acknowledged that handling big classes makes this method challenging.

"If you set complicated concerns, trainees will not have the ability to use AI to get direct answers," he explained.

He stressed the requirement for universities to train lecturers on crafting test concerns 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 said.

- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, concentrating on ethical AI development with fairness, openness, responsibility, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the policy of AI in education, encouraging organizations to investigate algorithms, data, shiapedia.1god.org and vokipedia.de outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they meet ethical requirements, protect user information, elclasificadomx.com and filter unsuitable content.
- It worries the requirement to assess the long-lasting effect of AI on vital skills like thinking and creativity while developing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO suggests executing age constraints for GenAI usage to protect younger trainees and protect vulnerable groups.
- For governments, it recommended embracing a collaborated national approach to managing GenAI, including developing oversight bodies and aligning regulations with existing information security and classifieds.ocala-news.com personal privacy laws. It emphasizes assessing AI risks, enforcing stricter guidelines for high-risk applications, and ensuring nationwide information ownership.