Academics have been called upon to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their work while maintaining rigorous ethical standards. 

This call was made during a seminar organised by TAGDev 2.0 on the theme: Ethical Use of AI in Higher Education.

Speaking on “Ethical Use of AI in Higher Agricultural Education and Climate-Smart Research”, the Head of the Department of Crop Science, UCC, Prof. Michael Osei Adu, noted that AI has become a platform with immeasurable benefits, especially to the academic community. 

Prof. Michael Osei Adu making his presentation at the seminar

Despite the numerous benefits of AI, Prof. Adu underscored the importance of ensuring that AI advancements are aligned with moral and ethical guidelines to maintain trust and integrity within the academic community

He further noted that AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity could greatly enhance students’ research processes if used responsibly. “AI is not sacrosanct and is capable of making mistakes,” he cautioned. 

Prof. Adu took participants through practical sessions on the use of AI tools and also demonstrated various prompting techniques, including naive, persona, chain-of-thought, and tree-of-thought approaches.

Presenting on the topic: “Ethical Use of AI in Training Entrepreneurial and Digitally Oriented Young Men and Women,” the Director of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance (DAPQA), UCC, Prof. Daniel Agyapong, said the fast-moving pace of AI could not be halted but rather deployed to enhance the operations of small businesses.

Prof. Daniel Agyapong speaking at the seminar

Prof. Agyapong said managing businesses involved a lot of stress and therefore, the use of AI would minimise the risk associated with small businesses.  He noted that young people who are already engaged in small businesses and those who aspire to become start-ups should take advantage to expand their businesses. He noted that one of the ways to attract funding for startups and small businesses is through grants adding that “the skill of writing grant can be made easy with the use AI tools”

“Use AI to know your customers and their preferences, and improve upon your services,” he advised. 

However, he cautioned against depending solely on AI instead of deploying the technology to complement their ideas.

The Coordinator of the UCC TAGDev 2.0 Programme, Prof. Festus Annor-Frempong, noted that the goal of TAGDev 2.0 was  to equip universities and TVET institutions to better serve communities by providing skills and empowering Africa's young people and their institutions to drive inclusive, equitable and climate-resilient transformation of agriculture and agrifood systems. 

Prof. Festus Annor-Frempong giving his remarks

He said the programme which will span 10 years was a collaboration between RUFORUM, Mastercard Foundation, the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA) and 12 African universities.

Some senior members who were present at the seminar

He announced that the programme would provide scholarships to more than 500 undergraduates and postgraduate students in selected programmes as well as equip out-of-school youth with skills to start their own businesses.

The Vice-Dean of the School of Agriculture Prof. Paul Agu Asare, advised participants to exercise caution in their use of AI to ensure that their research did not inadvertently become public property. 

Prof. Paul Agu Asare giving the concluding remark

He expressed gratitude to the speakers for their insightful presentations and commended the organizers for their efforts. “I encourage more seminars of this nature to help not only the School of Agriculture but the University at large,” he concluded.