By Bill Dan Arnold Borodi ,
During the recently concluded National Council For Higher Education (NCHE) regional exhibition at Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mbale campus , I had an opportunity to interview Dr. Nora Mulira the Director ICT, Research and Innovation at NCHE on UCU Focus TV about graduate Innovation and employability. She passionately called for integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Uganda’s higher learning citing the transformative experiences in developed countries such as Sweden where AI is deployed to manage entire projects.
Later on, It occurred to me that AI will very soon be the cornerstone of our society, starting with sectors that have centralised data, like the Education sector.
Well, it is important for us to have a basic understanding of AI before we go any further. AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. These processes include learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, language understanding, and decision-making. In summary machines being able to perform human tasks .
Over the years, AI has emerged as a powerful instrument with immense potential.
The global educational system in AI has kept evolving, infact it has been predicted that the AI market in education will grow to $6 billion by 2025 up from $1 billion in 2019. Ugandan Institutions of higher learning have entered a transformative moment in which AI can play an important role in shaping the country’s educational future.
Traditional education is passing by. Ugandan students can now benefit from tailored and adaptable learning experiences that respond to their specific strengths and weaknesses. It not only empowers students, but also gives lecturers and tutors powerful tools for upgrading their teaching approaches. Lecturers and tutors can use AI-powered platforms to assess their students’ learning progress, provide real-time feedback, and identify areas that require additional attention.
In areas where access to quality education is still limited, AI can assist by offering scalable, i.e handling increased amounts of work without decrease in perfomance, and cost-effective options.
Educational content can reach isolated and underprivileged communities with AI-powered virtual instructors and mobile learning tools, ensuring that everyone has access to educational content; a clear example of this is the ODEL system of learning, that many institutions of higher learning across the world including UCU, adopted during the Covid 19 pandemic in-order to have business continue during the shut down.
Contrary to popular opinion, AI in education does not replace human lecturers or teachers , but rather enhances their effectiveness. AI relieves them of administrative burdens, such as tracking tuition payments and attendance, and repetitive tasks, allowing them to concentrate on personalised student tailored learning. Research says that 79% of higher education stakeholders believe that AI is not a threat but an enabler for their institutions advancing equality. 64% of Chinese higher education institutions plan to implement AI idolabs by 2025 further showing us the need to embrace AI .
We should embrace the fact that AI has a promising future in education. As universities and Tertiary institutions gradually adopt AI technologies into their classrooms, it becomes vital to establish a strict legal framework and regulations to protect the interests of all stakeholders. The world is now in an AI race with the European Union taking centre stage with the enactment of the EU AI Act; the first comprehensive regulation by a major regulator, trailed by the US, Japan , Nigeria and South Africa. Our neighbours, Kenya and Rwanda, are now at the forefront of this discussion.
Legal frameworks are very important in the creation of guidelines for the ethical use of AI in education. Legislation also ensures that AI tools will be used to benefit students and preserve their rights by addressing issues such as data protection, ethical AI algorithm design, and bias reduction. In addition to this , it is important for the government to build a robust AI structure with a capacity to hold the AI ecosystem.
Uganda’s journey to an AI-integrated education system is a promising one, with the potential to transform learning, empower lecturers and tutors , and remove barriers to great education.
Uganda can maximise the potential of its educational environment by increasing human-machine collaboration.
I feel the time has come to embrace AI; imagine a future in which every Ugandan child has access to a world-class education driven by innovation and technology! However, we can only do it together with a complete AI ecosystem.
