AI Use Threatens Students’ Ability To Think, UNILAG VC Warns

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, has warned that excessive reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) by students could weaken their ability to think independently, urging Nigerian universities to develop clear rules that encourage responsible use of the technology rather than banning it.

Ogunsola gave the warning on September 8, 2026, while speaking on “Opportunities, Risks and Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Research” at the eighth Lagos State University (LASU) Research and Innovation Fair held at the Aderemi Makanjuola Lecture Theatre, LASU, Ojo, Lagos.

The research and innovation fair, which had the theme “Accelerating National Development Through Artificial Intelligence-Driven Research and Innovation”, brought together researchers, academics, innovators, industry stakeholders and policymakers to examine the growing role of AI in solving national challenges.

The UNILAG Vice Chancellor said universities should not attempt to stop the use of AI because the technology had become part of everyday life, but should instead teach students how to use it without surrendering the intellectual work that education is expected to develop.

“We cannot ban AI but we must teach minds to think,” Ogunsola said, stressing that the central concern should be how students use the technology rather than whether they use it.

According to her, AI can retrieve information, recall facts and carry out certain processes much faster than humans, but students still need to develop the ability to reason, analyse information, question conclusions and work through difficult problems on their own.

She warned that when students allow AI to do the intellectual work required for their assignments and other academic tasks, they may obtain answers without gaining the knowledge and skills that the learning process is supposed to provide.

“A mind that is not challenged cannot think,” the Vice Chancellor said, adding that the struggle involved in working out problems is part of what develops the human mind.

Ogunsola therefore called for universities to establish ethical frameworks and clear guidelines for the use of AI in teaching, learning and research, with attention to issues such as privacy, intellectual property, academic integrity, regulation and the accuracy of AI-generated information.

She also raised concerns about the reliability of conventional assessment methods in an environment where students have easy access to AI tools, saying lecturers could no longer automatically assume that an assignment submitted by a student represented the student’s own thinking and work.

“For many of us, teachers, we might be assessing AI rather than the student’s brain,” she said, calling on educators to rethink how students are assessed in the age of generative AI.

The UNILAG Vice Chancellor, however, made it clear that her position was not against AI, pointing to an example where the technology was used under the supervision of teachers to support English Language learning.

She said the intervention recorded major improvement among the participating students, with the learners achieving within six weeks what researchers estimated would have taken about two years through conventional instruction.

“The teachers were not replaced by technology; they were using technology to enhance learning,” Ogunsola said, using the example to show the difference between using AI as a learning aid and allowing it to take over the learning process.

She said Nigeria’s high level of AI adoption made it necessary for the education sector to develop practical ways of integrating the technology into teaching and research while protecting the core purpose of education.

Ogunsola said universities must also begin to reconsider what they expect students to learn and demonstrate, with greater attention to areas such as critical thinking, creativity, reasoning and other human abilities that cannot simply be handed over to technology.

She urged academics to embrace AI responsibly while ensuring that technology remains a tool that supports human intelligence rather than a replacement for it, saying the challenge for universities is to prepare students for a world where AI will increasingly form part of work, research and everyday life.

The warning comes as Nigerian universities and other institutions continue to grapple with how to handle the rapid spread of generative AI tools among students, particularly in relation to assignments, research, examinations, academic integrity and the development of independent thinking.

Ogunsola’s position therefore places the debate beyond whether students should be allowed to use AI, with the focus shifting towards how universities can set rules that allow students to benefit from the technology without allowing it to do the thinking that students are expected to learn to do themselves.

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