How can AI transform the education sector in Nigeria?

How can AI transform Nigeria’s economy?
How can AI transform Nigeria?
How can AI transform how we work in Nigeria?
How can AI transform how we live in Nigeria?

Ever since the AI bug hit with the release of ChatGPT earlier this year, I’ve been curious about the practical uses beyond the common use cases of content generation. Here are a few ideas in relation to the Education Sector. It’s unlikely some are implementable at AI’s current maturity. What are your thoughts? What risks do you think these open up? What economic or wealth-creation opportunities do you think these unlock?

Deepen the proliferation of content in our indigenous languages

Imagine for every news article, blog post, informative resource written, the opportunity existed to translate into 6-8 of the major Nigerian languages, at a click of a button.

This means even textbooks or curriculum materials for primary, secondary or higher education can be generated in local languages. I like the possibilities of reviving dialects that would hitherto go into extinction, and how this enables Nigeria to close the gap quickly by fast-tracking the generation of local language content. 

This means even textbooks or curriculum materials for primary, secondary or higher education can be generated in local languages. I like the possibilities of reviving dialects that would hitherto go into extinction, and how this enables Nigeria to close the gap quickly by fast-tracking generation of local language content. 

Generate audiovisual and rich media content to supplement curriculum

Everyone who does a flashback to their schooling days remembers one thing if anything, of that time. How boring school was! And part of this was linked to the overt focus on textual material. We were dictated to and given written notes to explain concepts that were better described visually. I came across an AI tool that generates unique pictures and videos to match any text input you give it. Imagine how that could transform classroom learning when teachers can quickly generate instructional content to bring the curriculum to life and let students experience and interact with their topics.

Identify insights to improve learning outcomes

This will rely on the existence of robust education management or monitoring systems at schools to track individual learner data, so a bit of a barrier exists for schools that have no digital infrastructure. But still…

Imagine that student performance on each test, exercise, and exam could be captured as data and analyzed to pinpoint trends, the best conditions for learning for the individual student, gaps in their current level of understanding, and recommended material or activities to help them close the gap.

First thoughts: This data will need to be enriched with supplementary information to improve the quality of insights – students’ current mood, number of hours of sleep they got before the test or exam, if they had a meal before, etc.