Expert System (AI) is changing education while making finding out more accessible however also sparking disputes on its effect.
While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their learning experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic integrity, especially with numerous trainees unable to defend their assignments or provided works.
Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed aggravation over the growing reliance on AI-generated responses amongst trainees stating a current experience he had.
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"I gave a project to my MBA students, and out of over 100 students, about 40% submitted the precise same answers. These trainees did not even understand each other, however they all utilized the very same AI tool to create their responses," he stated.
He noted that this trend prevails among both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is especially concerning in part-time and range knowing programs.
"AI is a serious challenge when it pertains to projects. Many trainees no longer think critically-they just go on the internet, create responses, and send," he included.
Surprisingly, some lecturers are likewise of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both teachers and trainees turn to AI for benefit rather than intellectual rigor.
This debate raises crucial questions about the function of AI in scholastic stability and student development.
According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million regular monthly active users in January 2023, only one nation had launched regulations on generative AI since July 2023.
As of December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million individuals utilizing the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent every day worldwide.
Decline of scholastic rigor
University lecturers are increasingly worried about students submitting AI-generated assignments without genuinely comprehending the content.
Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his issues to Nairametrics about trainees significantly relying on ChatGPT, only to have problem with answering basic questions when evaluated.
"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit polished assignments, however when asked standard concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing because education is about learning, not just passing courses," he stated.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing variety of top-notch graduates can not be entirely attributed to AI however admitted that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.
"A top-notch student is a first-rate student, AI or not, however that does not mean they do not cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, however it is making trainees reliant and less analytical," he stated.
- Another lecturer, 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 slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course details, marking schemes, and even examination concerns with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn utilize AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine learning," he lamented.
Students' point of views on use
Students, on the other hand, say AI has actually enhanced their knowing experience by making scholastic materials more easy to understand and accessible.
- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has actually considerably helped her learning by breaking down complex terms and providing summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI assisted me understand things more easily, specifically when dealing with intricate subjects," she discussed.
However, she recalled an instance when she used AI to submit her job, only for her lecturer to immediately acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted 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, firmly thinks that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his exceptional grades to actively interesting by asking concerns and focusing on locations that lecturers emphasize in class, as they are often reflected in exam questions.
"It's everything about being present, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he stated,
- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to occasionally copying directly from ChatGPT when dealing with multiple deadlines.
"To be honest, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the speakers do not get to check out them, but AI has also assisted me find out faster."
Balancing AI's function in education
Experts think the solution depends on AI literacy
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