Let us embrace AI with clear policies
Many professors in Kenyan universities fear AI-powered tools may compromise students’ ability to develop critical thinking and research skills.
What you need to know:
- Kenyan universities need to urgently create policies and strategies that help students and teachers work with AI productively.
- If universities fail to act, there is a risk that Kenyan students and research will fall behind in the global knowledge economy.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer an experimental technology of the future. It is already changing how knowledge is created, research is conducted and learning.
While universities around the world are developing guidelines for responsible AI use in academia, many institutions in Africa have been slow to put in place clear policies, leaving students and faculty to navigate AI adoption on their own.
In some cases, AI tools are still viewed with suspicion, seen more as a threat to academic integrity than a chance for meaningful engagement in teaching, research and learning.
Many professors in Kenyan universities fear ChatGPT, Google Gemini and other AI-powered tools may undermine traditional assessment and compromise students’ ability to develop critical thinking and research skills.
This concern makes sense because students can, with a few keystrokes, produce entire essays, summaries or answers to complex questions. The fear is that students may use AI to avoid the hard work of truly learning, thinking critically and doing original research.
But this defensive stance misses an important point. AI is here to stay, and it will only get smarter. Instead of fighting this reality, Kenyan universities need to urgently create policies and strategies that help students and teachers work with AI productively.
AI should be a tool that supports learning and creativity, not something that replaces the efforts and critical thinking that are fundamental to education.
Though a few Kenyan universities have started experimenting with AI in teaching and research, the overall picture remains patchy and uncoordinated. In most institutions, students and lecturers have limited access to AI tools and many universities lack the infrastructure, training and curriculum adjustments needed to fully integrate these technologies. This is according to a study titled “Effectiveness of AI Tools in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Institutions in Kenya”, published by Audrey Matere in the Journal of the Kenya National Commission for Unesco in April 2024.
Without proper policies or institutional support, faculty and students are largely left to figure out how to use AI on their own, delaying meaningful adoption across higher education.
Digital research evolution
In the US and other countries, many universities and organisations have begun developing policies on how AI should be used by faculty, staff and students. While these policies are still evolving, they reflect a proactive approach that Kenyan universities could learn from and adapt.
At Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), for instance, some professors allow students to use AI tools like ChatGPT for parts of their coursework. This includes tasks like editing, organising literature reviews and clarifying complex ideas.
However, they stress the importance of full disclosure, requiring students to document when they use AI, including sharing the prompts they provided and the feedback from the system. This kind of transparency helps ensure Artificial intelligence is used as a support tool in learning rather than as an invisible ghostwriter.
More importantly, policies like these teach students to engage with AI critically, learning how to verify the information it provides, assess the quality of its content and combine outputs with their own research and insights. In this mindset, AI becomes a way of enhancing learning, not a shortcut to avoid doing the hard work.
About 20 years ago, search engines like Google faced similar scepticism. Educators were worried that students would stop using libraries, stop thinking critically and just “Google” everything.
Today, search engines are fully embedded in research and daily academic work. They are no longer just sources of information but also serve as research tools, data collectors and gateways to scholarly databases.
AI tools represent the next step in this digital research evolution. Students can use AI to brainstorm research topics, organise their data, improve their writing, explore different viewpoints and even generate initial outlines.
Researchers can utilise AI to analyse vast datasets, create study summaries or draft grant proposals efficiently. Even university administrators can harness AI for tasks like scheduling, reporting and managing resources.
What’s needed isn’t more anxiety about cheating. We need thoughtful leadership that sets clear guidelines. Kenyan universities must develop policies that define what acceptable AI use looks like, establish ethical boundaries, train students and faculty to become AI literate and ensure transparency and accountability.
If universities fail to act, there is a risk that Kenyan students and research will fall behind in the global knowledge economy. AI will not wait for institutions to catch up. If Kenyan universities do not take the lead in shaping the use of AI in learning and research, they might find it difficult to remain relevant in an academic world that’s evolving rapidly.
The question isn’t whether AI should be used in universities, but how it should be utilised. The sooner we begin serious, policy-driven conversations about this in Kenya, the better prepared our institutions and students will be to navigate the future.
Mr Omondi is a graduate student studying Media Management at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and is former Chief Sub Editor at Daily Nation; [email protected]