Artificial Intelligence making our students lazy – Mak don

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of academic affairs at Makerere University, Assoc. Prof Umar Kakumba has said that a section of students are misusing the application of artificial intelligence (AI) by solely relying on it while doing their coursework.

Prof Kakumba said that students are increasingly becoming lazy and don’t do research whenever they are given coursework because they know that AI will provide them with answers.

“AI can make people lazy and stop being innovative. Whenever students are given coursework, they no longer go to libraries to read but rather go to AI and ask it to write essays for them,” he said.

He made these remarks during the official opening ceremony of this year’s Kampala Geopolitics Conference at Makerere University on Tuesday, October 17.

“The major AI they use is called Chatgpt. Literally, the AI which we embraced must be used to promote innovations as a university. It helps you to project what will happen in future like to get an early warning system on disasters and diseases which enables us to prepare in time,” Prof Kakumba said.

Despite this misuse, Prof Kakumba said the university has developed mechanisms to counter this growing trend.

“We can detect the course work done by AI because it has been programmed based on what they inserted in it. The laziness that comes with it is being trimmed slowly and we shall soon eliminate it,” he said.

Several students who spoke to the Monitor in reaction to Prof Kakumba said that the AI does not give the exact answers they need.

Meanwhile, the conference was organised by the French Embassy in partnership with Makerere University, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), UN WOMEN and Alliance Francaise Kampala under the theme: The African dimensions in International debates. It will run until tomorrow Saturday, October 18.

The French Ambassador Mr Xavier Sticker said that the conference provides room for discussions on issues of young people.

The UN Women Uganda Country Representative Paulina Chiwangu said: “We are committed to advancing Uganda's vision 2040 and all regional goals in order to advance in the areas of women's peace security, rights, humanitarian action, equality and security for all. It is my desire that these two-day dialogues will push us forward,”

The director of KAS, Mr Nils Wormer, highlighted the global challenges including the wars in Russia/Ukraine and in Israel which he said could be resolved by talks. 

Additional reporting by Maxiline Kansabe