A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Micheal Adikwu, has cautioned that heavy reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) could weaken students’ ability to think for themselves.
Adikwu spoke in an interview about how AI is changing teaching, learning and research in Nigerian universities. The University of Abuja is now called Yakubu Gowon University.
He acknowledged that AI has benefits. Students and lecturers can use it to find information quickly and support research. However, he said people naturally prefer what is cheap and easy. As a result, students may stop using their own minds and lean on tools like ChatGPT.
He noted that some countries have already banned AI in classrooms over fears of student laziness. Many institutions now run plagiarism checkers on projects, dissertations and theses to detect copied work. He also raised concerns about job losses, pointing to talk of robots replacing teachers and other workers.
Regulation Should Be Led by NUC
Adikwu called for firm controls on AI use in higher education. He said the National Universities Commission (NUC) should lead the effort and issue clear regulations and guidelines.
According to him, developing countries like Nigeria tend to consume technology rather than create it. He added that experts in advanced countries have warned of serious dangers from AI, including threats to human survival. Nigeria, he said, must “tread with caution.”
He urged university managements to follow NUC directives closely. Excessive use of AI in teaching and learning, he warned, would turn out graduates who depend on machines.
To make his point, he cited a quote attributed to Albert Einstein, which warns of a generation of fools if technology overtakes human interaction. He argued that the warning already applies, since many students now carry phones instead of books. Such students, he said, would happily get all their information from AI.
University authorities, he concluded, must act now to check its use.
