Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing education while making learning more available however likewise stimulating disputes on its impact.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their knowing experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines scholastic integrity, especially with lots of students unable to safeguard their tasks or provided works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed disappointment over the growing dependence on AI-generated responses among trainees recounting a current experience he had.

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“I provided a task to my MBA students, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% submitted the precise very same responses. These students did not even understand each other, however they all utilized the same AI tool to produce their reactions,” he said.

He noted that this pattern prevails among both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is particularly worrying in part-time and range knowing programs.

“AI is a major difficulty when it concerns assignments. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they simply go on the internet, create responses, and submit,” he included.

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

This debate raises critical questions about the function of AI in scholastic stability and trainee development.

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

As of December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million individuals using the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent out every day worldwide.

Decline of academic rigor

University speakers are progressively worried about trainees sending AI-generated projects without truly comprehending the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about trainees progressively counting on ChatGPT, just to have a hard time with responding to standard concerns when tested.

“Many students copy from ChatGPT and send sleek assignments, but when asked fundamental questions, they go blank. It’s disappointing because education has to do with discovering, not simply passing courses,” he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing number of first-rate graduates can not be entirely attributed to AI however admitted that even high-performing trainees use these tools.
“A first-rate student is a superior trainee, AI or not, however that does not suggest they do not cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, but it is making trainees 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 very same practice.
“It’s not simply trainees utilizing AI slackly. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, produce lesson notes, course details, marking plans, and even test questions with AI without examining them. Students in turn use AI to produce answers. It’s a cycle of laziness and it is killing real knowing,” he regreted.

Students’ point of views on usage

Students, on the other hand, state AI has actually improved their knowing experience by making academic materials more understandable and accessible.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has actually considerably aided her knowing by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of prolonged texts.
“AI helped me comprehend things more easily, specifically when handling complicated topics,” she discussed.

However, she recalled an instance when she used AI to submit her task, only for her speaker to instantly recognize that it was created by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a first-class degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, opentx.cz securely thinks that his scholastic success wasn’t due to any AI tool. He associates his impressive grades to actively engaging by asking concerns and concentrating on areas that lecturers highlight in class, pyra-handheld.com as they are often reflected in test questions.
“It’s everything about existing, taking note, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues,” he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to periodically copying straight from ChatGPT when dealing with numerous due dates.
“To be sincere, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple deadlines, and I know I’m guilty of that, a lot of times the lecturers do not get to go through them, however AI has likewise assisted me discover quicker.”

Balancing AI’s role in education

Experts think the option lies in AI literacy