By Ennety Munshya
The rise of AI in education: Opportunity or threat?
As Zambia strives for inclusive and quality education in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as both a game-changer and a challenge in higher learning.
Many students especially at university level are regularly using AI tools to enhance their learning experiences but the over reliance on these tools is becoming a growing problem for learners and academics alike.
Students and AI: A growing dependence
Makanday Centre for Investigative Journalism interviewed a number of students from higher learning institutions to assess their familiarity with AI tools and how common these tools are among their peers.
One student from the University of Zambia, top ranking university according to UniRank 2024, studying a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration says AI presents many opportunities for students but once abused its downside shows.
He says if students abuse AI tools to generate answers to questions they disadvantage themselves in terms of learning as they do not learn anything from just copying and pasting work.
He notes that his first experience using AI tools for academic purposes was bad because the lecturer was able to identify that his work was AI generated.
“It happened that we were given an assignment and I wanted to try out these tools, but because of the excitement from the information the tool gave me, I thought it was accurate and good enough to submit the way it was without editing,” he says.
“I actually got a zero in that assignment.”
The risks of over-reliance on AI: student perspectives
Another student from Mulungushi University, 2nd ranking university according to UniRank 2024, studying a Bachelors of Communication in Journalism who asked to remain anonymous, has said that she uses AI tools like AI-Meta and Chat box in her academic work. She says she specifically uses these tools for her research and to do her assignments when her deadlines are tight.
Asked whether she thinks using AI for academic work is ethical, she said it is not ethical because most times students are abusing these tools by just copying and pasting work that is AI- generated.
Despite using the technology, she says there should be a limit to the use of AI for academic purposes.
“AI has its own advantages and disadvantages. You have access to a lot of information but sometimes the sources are not reliable,” she says, adding that almost all students in her experience are using AI tools with more than four AI apps installed on their phones. “Somehow I feel AI is promoting laziness because students are just copying and pasting work that is AI generated.”
Another student from the same institution studying a Bachelor of Marketing and Advertising says AI tools provide students with a variety of sources that they can refer to.
She says it offers information from other countries which broaden their understanding on particular topics of research. “I use some AI tools like Nova and ChatGpt just to get ideas because these tools are not very accurate. I have not had any problems so far.”
But she acknowledges the negative impact of AI, saying that it promotes laziness among students as they rarely learn anything if they have to copy and paste information that is generated for them by machines, defeating the purpose of research.
She has noted that her institution has not given enough guidance on the use of AI in their academic work apart from advising students not to over depend on it.
The students we interviewed had all used AI tools for academic purposes, despite knowing some of the risks involved, and said AI use was widespread amongst the student body. But are their lecturers and universities ready to deal with this shift in education?
AI and academic integrity: A lecturer’s perspective
Kamufisa Manchishi is a Lecturer at Mulungushi University. He says AI has reshaped the teaching and learning environment both negatively and positively.
Mr. Manchishi says lecturers can use AI to enhance teaching as they can use it to generate extra material for different categories of students. He says AI can also be used for online learning purposes making it possible to interact with students beyond the physical classes.
He says at the moment they are not using tools that detect AI generated work apart from anti-plagiarism software that has an AI detection tool embedded within it.
Mr. Manchishi also notes that it is currently easy to tell if a student has submitted AI-generated work by looking at how the work has been structured and the scenarios that are presented in the work that mostly do not apply locally.
He says that most institutions do not have policies at the moment directly dealing with AI therefore it becomes difficult to penalize a student even if you were to identify that they have submitted AI-generated work.
Mr. Manchishi says if students use AI as a learning aid there is nothing wrong but the abuse of it is what poses a major challenge within the education sector.
Government's response: Is policy catching up?
The Ministry of Science and Technology in Zambia has formulated a National AI Strategy which was launched on the 21st November, 2024. The Strategy is a formal plan to develop, regulate, and promote AI technologies for national development, economic growth, and social advancement.
Education experts weigh in: The need for regulation
Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) Executive Director George Hamusunga says his organization is happy that the government is making steps towards formulating policies that will govern the use of AI in different sectors including education and that the Artificial Intelligence Strategy gives direction on the future of AI in the education sector.
Mr. Hamusunga notes that there is a need to regulate the way AI is used to derive positive benefits.
“Universities need to position themselves and be ready to receive students that are tech savvy because the new curriculum for primary and secondary school learners is heavy on incorporating artificial intelligence in the learning system.”
Mr. Hamusunga has noted the need for adequate policies to regulate and stimulate the use of AI.
Currently Zambia’s governance framework for AI is still evolving. There is no centralized authority or regulatory body dedicated to overseeing AI development and ensuring compliance with ethical standards.
Aaron Chansa is Executive Director for the National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ). He says there is a need to acknowledge that technology and AI is here to stay therefore it should be embraced.
Dr. Chansa says artificial intelligence needs to be promoted to be part of the education system as it can be used to solve some of the sector’s problems.
Within the education sector, the AI strategy includes aims to integrate AI into educational curricula at all levels from primary to tertiary level and train educators and institutions in AI content.
He notes that the country is not entirely ready to embrace artificial intelligence because the digital Infrastructure is not enabling.
AI readiness: where does Zambia stand?
According to the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index 2023, Zambia is significantly lower than South Africa in terms of AI readiness, ranking 143rd out of 193 countries compared to South Africa’s position at 77th.
The Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index assesses a country’s ability to adopt and manage AI technologies, taking into account factors like legislation, infrastructure, and ethical considerations. This indicates that Zambia is considered less prepared to implement and govern Artificial Intelligence technologies compared to South Africa.
Dr. Chansa has said government should be more consultative as they formulate policies around artificial intelligence.
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