It is no lie that artificial intelligence, or AI has disrupted the world as we know it. Generative AI became widely accessible in 2022 when tools like ChatGPT hit the internet. This has influenced various aspects of life, for example, how we work, how we communicate, and, most importantly, how we learn. Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the landscape of education, causing both anxiety and excitement due to its enormous capabilities. From performing administrative tasks to assisting in student assignments, there is much at stake. The question is, are our educational institutions ready for this revolution?
I sat down with Brown, a student at the University of Nairobi and Mr. Walubengo a lecturer at Multimedia University to find out how AI is impacting their learning and teaching respectively.
In Conversation with Brown
When did you first learn about Artificial Intelligence?
“The first time I was introduced to AI was during the period when I was learning how to code. It was something very new and interesting to me. It would solve problems and even think for you. I really enjoyed the experience,” says Brown.
What kind of Artificial Intelligence do you use in your studies?
“I use a variety of AI depending on what I want to do. The most common ones that I use are Microsoft Copilot, Chat GPT, Perplexity and Question AI. For example, when I am coding and want to fix a bug and I don’t know where to find it, I can use AI to trace it from like 300 lines of code.”
Can you explain the process you use to instruct the AI?
“I usually copy the code and give it to Chat Gpt then it locates it for me. I can also tell Chat Gpt that I want to create an ecommerce site that is going to sell food. I then tell it the kind of food I want to sell for example beverages. I run the prompt on Chat GPT and it gives me the results for my website.”
That’s impressive. How can you compare learning before and after you started using AI?
“I find it so easy working with AI. It gives you what you want. Before AI learning was a bit tedious because you had to do your own thinking and perhaps go to the internet to do research. This usually meant going deeper and deeper to get what you want which was time consuming.”
Do you think AI as had a negative impact on your education?
“I think using AI has reduced my desire to go deeper into books for information. However, AI is a trained model so it doesn’t have all the information. This means that it may give you something in line with what you have or something short of it. It has also reduced my urge to consult or work in groups because I can solve most of the problems on my own.”
There are concerns that AI is undermining academic integrity. What do you say about this from a student perspective?
“AI is something that has been built by human beings and has its limitations. The lecturers should therefore also receive training on how AI works because when they understand how it works they can find ways to tackle the challenges regarding examinations and syllabus.”
An AI generated image of what AI in classrooms would look like in Africa
In Conversation with Mr. Walubengo
Artificial intelligence is not only transforming how students learn but also reshaping how lecturers teach. Mr. John Walubengo, a lecturer of IT and Computer Science at Multimedia University and also chairperson of the committee on Emerging Technologies at the Ministry of ICT and Digital Economy, shares his insights.
How do you define Artificial intelligence?
“AI as a discipline has been around for almost 50 years. About 3 years ago, it came to us in form of Chat GPT. At the basic level it involves making machines behave as if they are human for example, speech, vision and motor skills. When it comes to speech you are enabling machines to understand language and that’s the strength of Chat GPT,” says Mr. Walubengo.
What is AI in the context of Academia?
“I think AI in the context of Academia is significantly related to Chat GPT because Chat GPT is a technology disrupting education because of its power. The ability for Chat GPT to carry out what would normally be academic homework correctly in the shortest time possible disrupts the way we as lectures assess students,” he says, “For example, in IT we could ask students to write a program for example to arrange numbers in ascending order. In the old days probably, that would take a beginning student around three to four hours to solve. If you ask chat GPT the same question it will write the program in less than 30 seconds.”
What challenges have you encountered with the rise of AI in the classroom?
“From an academic point of view, when the student presents the homework that is so accurately done using Chat GPT as theirs, the question then becomes, have they really learnt how to program or are they simply parroting what the AI has done?
As a lecturer you have no choice but to give them the full marks because the program is correct but the student has not learnt perhaps the fundamentals of programming. Therefore, lecturers are struggling with what to do. Do they then ban this tool? I believe the answer is no since this is a global reality. If the university tries to block its use, the students can still access it on their phones elsewhere.”
How can we mitigate these challenges?
“Both the lecturers and students need to come to terms with the reality of AI and start changing how learning is delivered. For example, how can lecturers come up with new homework that acknowledges there is Chat GPT. We have to come up with new methods of assessing knowledge. How could we still be able to test the student understanding despite Chat GPT.
I would not also blame the students because it is a joint effort. If us lecturers stick to our old methods in light of Chat GPT, then we risk producing graduates who have first class papers but fundamentally they haven’t learnt anything because Chat GPT can address all the assignments.
At the same time, the student should also make the effort to learn the old way so that they are in a position to criticize Chat GPT answers because in AI we have something called bias. The answers Chat GPT gives you are not always correct. AI is human made and humans can inherently pass their biases to it.”
What opportunities exist with integrating AI in the classroom?
“Chat GPT and its variants will continuously get integrated in academia and other professions. One opportunity that exists is the ability of AI to identify students who are struggling and create customized modules or content specific to them to enhance their learning experience. It is called personalized education.”
Are there existing policies to guide use of AI in the classroom?
“I think the conversation is not yet formalized. It hasn’t reached national discourse. You have university lecturers discussing in their own corners but not together. You may find for example, you may find that what one university thinks about it is not the same as another. For example, university researchers also use Chat GPT to write academic papers so there is no agreed global position on this.
However, there are however attempts by UNESCO to take the lead and provide guidance that each country and universities can adopt to their own local conditions. There is also an active team looking at the national AI strategy.”
Do you think as a country we are ready for AI?
“I don’t think we are ready because if we were, we would have a position as a country or as a ministry at this point. Where we are is knowing that it is happening but hoping it will disappear on its own. The report is not yet out but generally we are saying is AI is here to stay but we must use it responsibly. What that means is that the developers of Ai must put guard rails within the technology.
There is responsible development of AI where developers are socialized into being sensitive to the negative aspects of AI and trying to mitigate them at source. The users also need to be aware of the negative side of AI so that they can use it responsibly.”
What does the future look like when it comes to AI in education?
“Looking forward, the tool will become mainstream. At some point, Chat GPT will get to the same level as google. Right now, we are in our comfort zone. We’ve had education for centuries this one way but with Chat GPT there is a disruption. It will be a new paradigm of education. There are those who will lose, for example lecturers who can’t adopt and students who can’t cope then there are those who will survive the wave and that will become the new normal.
The bigger responsibility lies with the lecturers. The young people tend to adopt technology very fast. If the lecturers are not able to move at the same pace, there will be a disconnect. This means that the lecturer won’t be able to assess students effectively. Right now, the students are ahead of us and it’s the responsibility of the teacher to revise the teaching and evaluation methods because those have been disrupted by AI.”
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