By Godfrey AKON
Cosmopolitan University, Abuja, says it is championing the promotion and usage of artificial intelligence, AI, for educational purposes with the introduction of its AI competition in secondary schools.
Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Carl Adams, who stated this in Abuja during the presentation of awards to some secondary school students who excelled in the university’s first AI competition, said AI is the future of education, nursing, business, and many organisations.
Adams explained that the ‘create with AI competition’ tested students in secondary school in areas such as creativity, evaluation, and referencing.
The vice chancellor said the university has been collaborating with institutions within and outside Nigeria to promote the use of AI, noting that the competition was an extension of that effort.
“It is the future of education, nursing, business, and many organisations. We are collaborating with other universities within and outside Nigeria.
“This AI competition is an extension of that. AI is embedded in many activities of many organisations and we will continue to grow. This competition is one of many to come in the future,” he said.
Also speaking, the Registrar of the university, Dr Ibrahim Mani, said the institution needed to take the driver’s seat in promoting AI among secondary school students using the competition.
“We aim to make this grow in the coming years. Hopefully, we want to make it a national event, and gradually, it will become an international event,” Mani said.
“This is the trajectory that we are going down. Why are we pushing for AI? AI will determine almost everything that will happen tomorrow. AI will criss-cross and transverse every human endeavour.
“If you look at it, we are seeing an incremental presence of AI in our everyday lives. We don’t want you to be left behind, and that informed the need for this competition—for you to be exposed to this disruptive technology that will shape the future.
“More importantly, we are happy that Cosmopolitan University is coming to be at the forefront of promoting the utilisation of AI among secondary school students in Nigeria. We are happy with the response that we received from the participants,” he said.
On her part, the coordinator of the Create with AI competition team, Dr Juliet Okpo, said the university seeks to promote responsible AI practices among the students because AI is sweeping across all spheres of life.
Okpo noted that students at the university are exposed to AI technology through teaching and learning to adequately prepare them to face life after school.
She added that the institution intended to reach as many students as possible and came up with the competition.
“This competition is going to expose what AI should be, how AI should be used, and what benefits it should give to you as a student or any stakeholder.
“Now, we want to promote responsible AI practices. That is why we started this competition. It is actually the initiative of our Centre for Collaborative Artificial Intelligence.”
Students from Roberto Secondary School, Bristol Academy, and Starville Secondary School who took part in the competition were presented with awards.
Khalid Alao of Roberto won gold in the creativity and referencing categories, while Ifeoluwa Bankole-Ladipo of Starville School won gold in the evaluation category.
Others are Okoye Chineme from Bristol Academy, who won silver in creativity; Semilore Adesipe of Starville, who won bronze; Godreigns Amedari of Starville School, who won silver in the evaluation category; and Onwuneme Jessica of Bristol Academy, who won bronze.
In the referencing category, Emmanuella Asuni, Ibe Ihuoma, and Ipeh Christopher of Starville School won silver, while Chime Angelica of Britarch School won bronze.
