The Vice-Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Olufemi Peters, has inaugurated a 15-member committee with the mandate of producing Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated content for further consideration in the university.
The committee, chaired by the new Deputy Vice-chancellor, Administration, Prof. Shehu Adamu, will have four weeks to complete its assignment.
The Vice-Chancellor, while inaugurating the committee at the NOUN headquarters in Abuja, reminded them that their work, if found beneficial, will be the first step expected to herald a “move to a more university-wide consideration of the deployment of AI in our content development.”
He said the formation of the committee, with the theme: “Advancing Excellence and Innovation in Open and Distance Education,” was borne out of both global necessity and institutional aspiration.
According to him, NOUN should not be left behind in this front, as the report of an earlier committee on AI, chaired by the Dean, Faculty of Education, Prof. B. Ogunleye, was expected to guide this committee’s work.
Peters said; “For generations, Open and Distance Learning has served as a transformative vehicle of mass education opportunities as we ourselves have learnt in our university.
“We have shown its extending educational opportunities beyond traditional boundaries and fostering the intellectual and digital growth of learners irrespective of location or circumstances.
“ODL has moved from the age-long corresponding method of delivery to an era that is being characterised by rapid technological evolution.”
The VC charged them to show a firm commitment to ethical leadership, stressing that the deployment of the AI must enhance human capability without compromising the dignity or privacy of individual institutions.
