The 11th KNUST Summer School has ended on an exciting note, with participants exploring the practical applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, research, and institutional management.
The 3-day programme brought together academics, from the College to share insights on how AI can transform teaching, learning, and research efficiency.
In his presentation, Dr. Daniel Opoku highlighted how AI is reshaping academic administration and research management.
He underscored the need for lecturers and researchers to embrace AI as a support system that enhances their work rather than replaces it.
“The power is at the tip of our fingers,” he said. “Professors who are using AI are going to take over from professors who are not using AI. Literature review has become one of the easiest things to do nowadays because of the power of AI. If you decide not to go the AI way, you’ll end up doing a lot more work.”
Dr. Daniel acknowledged that while there is fear surrounding AI, it is largely unfounded.
“There’s so much fear about AI. But is there any basis for fear? It’s not taking over what you are doing, you are using it as a tool to improve what you do and to accelerate your work,” he explained.
He also called for the promotion of responsible AI, urging academics to use the technology ethically and collaboratively.
“When we talk about AI, we must talk about responsible AI. Let’s create our own solutions using AI-powered tools and work closely with the people who will benefit from these innovations,” he noted.
He further proposed the establishment of AI laboratories that integrate agricultural datasets with computational systems to serve as innovation hubs.
The Vice Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Nana Ewusi-Mensah, led participants through a practical demonstration on the use of AI applications in research and education.
Participants were taken through hands-on sessions designed to build their capacity in leveraging AI tools for academic writing, data analysis, and innovative problem-solving within higher education.
Prof. Ewusi also demonstrated how AI can be used to support research design, automate analysis, and enhance teaching resources.
Participants expressed enthusiasm about the session, describing it as enlightening and transformative.
The Provost of the College, Prof. Dadson Awunyo-Vitor, commended the initiative, emphasizing the need for lecturers to lead the integration of AI in education.
“We need to start with the lecturers teaching the course,” he said. “Once our educators are confident in using AI, students will naturally adopt it, and this will transform how we teach and learn.”
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