Expert System (AI) is transforming education while making learning more accessible but also sparking debates on its impact.

While students 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 undermines academic integrity, especially with many students unable to protect their assignments or provided 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 actions amongst students stating a recent experience he had.

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"I gave a task to my MBA students, and out of over 100 students, about 40% submitted the precise very same answers. These students did not even know each other, however they all used the exact same AI tool to generate their actions," he stated.

He kept in mind that this pattern prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is particularly worrying in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a severe obstacle when it comes to projects. Many students no longer think critically-they simply go online, generate answers, and send," he added.

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

This debate raises vital concerns about the function 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 guidelines on generative AI since July 2023.

As of 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 significantly concerned about students sending AI-generated tasks without really comprehending the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students significantly depending on ChatGPT, only to battle with addressing fundamental concerns when evaluated.

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit sleek tasks, but when asked fundamental questions, they go blank. It's disappointing because education is about discovering, not just passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing number of top-notch graduates can not be completely credited to AI however confessed that even high-performing students utilize these tools.


"A superior student is a first-class student, AI or not, however that doesn't mean they don't 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 various issue that some speakers themselves are guilty of the very same practice.


"It's not simply trainees using AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course describes, marking plans, and even examination questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn utilize AI to generate answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine knowing," he regreted.

Students' point of views on use

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

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has significantly aided her learning by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of prolonged texts.


"AI assisted me understand things more quickly, especially when dealing with complicated topics," she described.

However, she recalled a circumstances when she utilized AI to send her task, just for her lecturer to immediately acknowledge that it was created by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently finished with a first-rate degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his exceptional grades to actively appealing by asking concerns and concentrating on areas that speakers stress in class, as they are often shown in examination concerns.


"It's all about existing, paying attention, and using the wealth of knowledge shared by my colleagues," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, admits to sometimes copying directly from ChatGPT when facing multiple deadlines.


"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I know I'm guilty of that, the majority of times the lecturers do not get to read through them, however AI has also helped me find out much faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the service lies in AI literacy; teaching students and speakers how to utilize AI as a learning aid rather than a faster way.

- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the combination of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the value of a well balanced approach that preserves 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 agency in education. We need to ensure that AI boosts, instead of replaces, teachers' essential role in shaping young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity change professional, attended to growing issues concerning the use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential dangers to the educational system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, nevertheless, stressed the requirement for caution in its usage.

- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among teachers and schools toward including AI tools in learning environments. She recognized 2 main reasons that AI tools are discouraged in educational settings: yewiki.org security risks and plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based upon user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of educators.


"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade said, describing that AI doesn't deal with specific mentor methods.

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

"A lot of individuals need to comprehend, like I said, this is information that has actually been trained on. It is not simply bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing details that some other people are fed into it, which in essence implies that is another individual's paperwork," she cautioned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI advancement called "hallucination," where AI tools would generate details that was not accurate.


"Hallucination meant that it was drawing out information from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she discussed.

She suggested "grounding" AI by offering it with particular information to avoid such errors.

Navigating AI in Education

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

- She believes that consistently strengthening essential information helps individuals keep in mind and prevent making errors when confronted with obstacles.


"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the very same thing over and over again, when they are about to make the mistakes, then they'll keep in mind."

She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that lots of schools must attend to individuals and process elements of this use.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually turned to in-class tasks and tests to counter AI-driven scholastic dishonesty.


"Now, I mainly utilize tasks to guarantee students provide original work." However, he acknowledged that handling big classes makes this technique hard.

"If you set complicated concerns, trainees will not be able to use AI to get direct answers," he described.

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

- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, transparency, responsibility, and privacy at its core.

- UNESCO in a report calls for the regulation of AI in education, recommending organizations to audit algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they meet ethical standards, secure user data, and filter unsuitable content.

- It worries the need to assess the long-term impact of AI on crucial abilities like thinking and creativity while developing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO advises executing age restrictions for GenAI usage to safeguard younger trainees and protect vulnerable groups.
- For federal governments, it encouraged adopting a collaborated nationwide technique to regulating GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and aligning policies with existing data protection and privacy laws. It highlights assessing AI risks, implementing more stringent guidelines for high-risk applications, and making sure national data ownership.