Dr. John Kingsley Krugu has cautioned Ghanaian students against relying excessively on Artificial Intelligence for academic work, warning that doing so could produce graduates who never develop the skills their qualifications are supposed to represent.
Dr. Krugu, who holds a PhD in Public Health from Maastricht University, describes the risk as “never-skilling,” a situation where people fail to develop a skill because technology performs difficult tasks for them before they have learned to do those tasks independently.
The former New Patriotic Party parliamentary candidate for Zebilla, who is now the party’s spokesperson on Environment and Natural Resources, said AI could significantly improve learning and productivity but should not replace the intellectual effort required to acquire knowledge and expertise.
In a social media post, he pointed to the growing use of AI by students for assignments, essays, presentations, calculations and other academic tasks.
According to him, learning involves struggling with difficult problems, making mistakes, receiving feedback, reading and practising, processes that could be lost when students routinely allow AI to do the work for them.
Dr. Krugu said the consequences could become particularly serious when students enter professions such as medicine, engineering, law, journalism and accounting, where independent judgement is critical.
Using medicine as an example, he questioned whether a student who depends heavily on AI throughout medical school would be adequately prepared to recognise an AI-generated error after becoming a doctor.
He argued that professionals cannot effectively supervise or correct AI systems if they have not first developed sufficient knowledge of their own.
Reflecting on his academic journey, Dr. Krugu said the difficulties he encountered while pursuing his PhD before the widespread use of generative AI contributed to developing his analytical abilities.
He therefore urged young Ghanaians to “first build the brain, then use the machine.”
Dr. Krugu encouraged students to master the fundamentals of their fields, read extensively, write, solve problems independently, analyse evidence and learn to defend their conclusions before turning to AI to improve their productivity.
He likened the technology to an aircraft’s autopilot system, arguing that although autopilot can assist a pilot, the person operating the aircraft must first know how to fly it.
Dr. Krugu said the future would favour people who know how to use AI effectively, but the greater advantage would belong to those who can still think independently, identify when the technology is wrong and determine when it should not be trusted.
A1 Radio | 101.1 Mhz | Moses Apiah | Bolgatanga
