Expert System (AI) is transforming education while making finding out more accessible however also stimulating arguments on its impact.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their learning experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic integrity, particularly with many students not able to protect their tasks or offered works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, oke.zone a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed disappointment over the growing reliance on AI-generated responses among trainees stating a recent experience he had.

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"I gave a project to my MBA students, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% submitted the exact very same responses. These trainees did not even know each other, but they all utilized the same AI tool to produce their reactions," he said.

He noted that this pattern is widespread among both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is especially worrying in part-time and distance learning programs.

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

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

This dispute raises crucial concerns about the role of AI in academic integrity and student development.

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million month-to-month active users in January 2023, wiki.fablabbcn.org only one country had released regulations on generative AI since July 2023.

As of December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million individuals using the AI chatbot each week and 1 billion messages sent out every day around the world.

Decline of scholastic rigor

University speakers are progressively concerned about students submitting AI-generated tasks without really understanding the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about students progressively relying on ChatGPT, only to have problem with answering fundamental questions when checked.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send sleek assignments, however when asked fundamental concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating since education has to do with learning, not just passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of first-rate graduates can not be completely attributed to AI but admitted that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A top-notch trainee is a superior trainee, AI or not, however that doesn't imply they don't cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, however it is making students dependent and less analytical," he stated.

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

Students' perspectives on use

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

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

However, she remembered a circumstances when she used AI to send her task, only for her speaker to instantly acknowledge that it was generated by ChatGPT and decline 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 attributes his exceptional grades to actively appealing by asking concerns and concentrating on areas that lecturers highlight in class, as they are often reflected in exam questions.
"It's everything about existing, focusing, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, admits to periodically copying straight from ChatGPT when dealing with multiple deadlines.
"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, many times the speakers don't get to review them, however AI has actually likewise assisted me discover faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the service lies in AI literacy; teaching trainees and lecturers how to use AI as a knowing aid rather than 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 method that maintains human participation while harnessing AI to enhance finding out results.
"As we browse the quickly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is important that we prioritise human firm in education. We must make sure that AI boosts, rather than replaces, educators' essential function in shaping young minds," he stated

Concerns over AI in Learning

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

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, however, emphasized the requirement for caution in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance amongst educators and schools towards incorporating AI tools in finding out environments. She recognized two primary reasons that AI tools are discouraged in instructional settings: security threats and plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based upon user interactions, which might not line up with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, explaining that AI doesn't accommodate particular teaching approaches.

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

"A great deal of people need to understand, like I stated, this is data that has been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing information that some other individuals are fed into it, which in essence means that is another individual's documentation," she warned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early issue in AI advancement known as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce info that was not accurate.
"Hallucination implied that it was highlighting details from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that details from you, it was going to make one up," she explained.

She advised "grounding" AI by supplying it with specific information to avoid such errors.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the solution, especially when AI presents a chance to leapfrog conventional instructional techniques.

- She thinks that consistently enhancing crucial info helps people remember and prevent making errors when confronted with difficulties.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform individuals the exact same thing over and over once again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll keep in mind."

She likewise the need for clear policies and procedures within schools, keeping in mind that many schools ought to address individuals and process aspects of this use.

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

"If you set intricate questions, students won't be able to utilize AI to get direct responses," he discussed.

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

- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, concentrating on ethical AI development with fairness, openness, accountability, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the policy of AI in education, advising institutions to audit algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they meet ethical standards, secure user data, and filter unsuitable content.
- It stresses the requirement to examine the long-term effect of AI on crucial skills like believing and creativity while creating policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO suggests carrying out age constraints for GenAI use to secure more youthful trainees and protect susceptible groups.
- For governments, it advised adopting a coordinated national technique to regulating GenAI, consisting of developing oversight bodies and lining up policies with existing data defense and personal privacy laws. It emphasizes evaluating AI threats, implementing stricter rules for high-risk applications, and ensuring national information ownership.