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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing education while making discovering more accessible however likewise stimulating arguments on its effect.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, especially with numerous trainees unable to defend their assignments or offered 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 trainees recounting a current experience he had.

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

He kept in mind that this pattern is prevalent amongst both undergraduate and wiki.myamens.com postgraduate students however is particularly concerning in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a major challenge when it comes to assignments. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they just go on the internet, generate responses, and submit," he added.

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

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

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in January 2023, just one country had launched regulations on generative AI since July 2023.

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

Decline of academic rigor

University lecturers are increasingly concerned about students submitting AI-generated assignments without truly understanding the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about students significantly relying on ChatGPT, only to have problem with responding to basic concerns when evaluated.

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

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of first-rate graduates can not be totally to AI however admitted that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A first-class student is a first-class trainee, AI or not, but that does not indicate they do not cheat. The advantages of AI might be peripheral, however it is making students reliant and less analytical," he stated.

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

Students' perspectives on use

Students, on the other hand, state AI has improved their knowing experience by making academic products more easy to understand and available.

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

However, she remembered an instance when she utilized AI to send her task, just for her speaker to instantly acknowledge that it was created by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely thinks that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his impressive grades to actively engaging by asking concerns and concentrating on areas that lecturers stress in class, as they are typically shown in test concerns.
"It's all about being present, focusing, and using the wealth of understanding shared by my coworkers," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to periodically copying directly from ChatGPT when facing several due dates.
"To be honest, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have several deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the lecturers do not get to go through them, however AI has actually also helped me find out much faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the solution depends on AI literacy; teaching trainees and speakers how to utilize AI as a learning aid instead of a faster way.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the combination of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the importance of a balanced approach that maintains human participation while harnessing AI to enhance finding out outcomes.
"As we browse the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is essential that we prioritise human company in education. We must guarantee that AI boosts, instead of replaces, teachers' important role in shaping young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity improvement specialist, addressed growing issues relating to using expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential risks to the educational system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, however, stressed the requirement for care in its usage.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance amongst educators and schools towards including AI tools in learning environments. She identified two main reasons AI tools are discouraged in academic settings: security dangers and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react 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 doesn't accommodate specific mentor techniques.

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

"A great deal of individuals require to comprehend, like I stated, this is data that has actually been trained on. It is not simply bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing details that some other individuals are fed into it, which in essence suggests that is another person's documentation," she warned.

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

She recommended "grounding" AI by providing it with specific information to prevent such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the service, especially when AI presents a chance to leapfrog traditional educational techniques.

- She believes that regularly reinforcing crucial details helps individuals keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when faced with challenges.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell people the very same thing over and over once again, when they are about to make the errors, then they'll remember."

She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and procedures within schools, noting that lots of schools ought to resolve individuals and process elements of this usage.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has resorted to in-class assignments and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I mainly use tasks to ensure trainees offer initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this approach tough.

"If you set complex questions, students will not be able to utilize AI to get direct responses," he described.

He highlighted the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting test concerns that AI can not quickly resolve while acknowledging that some lecturers struggle to counter AI abuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some lecturers are analogue," he stated.

- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the regulation of AI in education, recommending organizations to audit algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they fulfill ethical standards, safeguard user information, and filter improper material.
- It stresses the need to evaluate the long-lasting impact of AI on crucial skills like thinking and creativity while developing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, championsleage.review UNESCO suggests executing age constraints for GenAI use to secure more youthful trainees and protect susceptible groups.
- For governments, it recommended embracing a collaborated national approach to regulating GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and aligning policies with existing information security and experienciacortazar.com.ar personal privacy laws. It emphasizes examining AI risks, enforcing more stringent guidelines for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing national data ownership.