Education stakeholders stress importance of AI at annual conference

Education stakeholders at the annual and regional conference of the Higher Education Research and Policy Network (HERPNET) at the weekend advocated systematic training for lecturers and students in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), networking between academia and industry as well as  contextualising the development and utilisation of AI through a collaborative multidisciplinary approach.

 The experts said this in a communiqué signed by the President of HERPNET, Professor S.O. Adedeji, Professor A.O.U Onuka, chairman of the communique Committee and Dr E. Okeke, HERPNET secretary, at the end of the 18th annual and regional Conference of HERPNET tagged: Innovating higher education with AI: Teaching, research and policy perspectives, held at the Faculty of Education, Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo.

 The dons also recommended that the use of AI  need to be adapted to suit ‘our own cultural context’ as well as the need to develop’ our own context’ based on the realities of  contemporary context.

The stakeholders observed that AI is useful urging Nigerians to use it in research, academic work to improve efficiency and effectiveness in learning delivery.

 They also  observed that the use of AI had  come to stay and was subject to misuse and abuse, adding that most of the content of AI  platforms are developed in the global  north and as such, not adapted to the local context of Nigeria and the global south.

 The stakeholders averred that there is limited knowledge about the effective use of of AI as   well as limited datasets and information about local knowledge content which is rarely referenced when creating content using AI.

 Earlier, the founding president and chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Professor Babatunde Babalola, said the fact that the use of AI is fraught with some challenges does not obliterate its usefulness and stressed the need to address such challenges properly.

 Also, keynote speaker, Professor Oluwatoyin Enikuomehin, speaking through Professor Olugbenga Akindoju and the lead paper presenter, Professor Francis Egbokhare, respectively recommended that though, there are challenges in using AI in higher education, but the challenges are not insurmonuntable.

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Stakeholders, particularly, education managers, teachers and learners, were urged to create enabling environment and acclimatise themselves with the trends in the digital ward.

 The HERPNET BoT, executive and steering committees lauded the Vice Chancellor of LASU, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, local organising committees and other stakeholders for providing enabling environment for the annual conference to take place.