Dean Emeritus, Graduate School of Engineering and Management at U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Professor Adedeji Badiru has urged students to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool for deeper learning rather than a shortcut to instant answers.

He said properly designed AI platforms can strengthen critical thinking, improve knowledge retention and widen access to quality education.

Badiru, an educator with more than four decades of professorial experience and creator of the AI-powered educational platform AskProf, said the technology was developed to help learners understand concepts, revise effectively and identify areas requiring improvement instead of merely generating responses.

He said AI has the potential to transform education by providing personalised academic support for students preparing for examinations such as JAMB, WAEC, NECO and Post-UTME in Nigeria, as well as SAT, ACT and AP examinations in the United States.

“AskProf, as an AI tool, is specifically designed and structured to encourage, inspire and motivate students to learn, acquire knowledge and retain information rather than just providing answers to students,” Badiru said.

According to him, the platform enables students to convert study sessions into flashcards, quizzes and summary notes, while also tracking topics they have mastered and subjects where they continue to struggle, allowing them to focus on weaker areas.

For teachers and lecturers, he said AskProf offers classroom management features that allow educators to create classes, monitor students’ learning patterns and identify topics that require further explanation.

He explained that the idea behind AskProf predates the emergence of generative AI. He recalled registering the AskProf.com domain more than 20 years ago with the intention of responding to students’ academic questions by email, but abandoned the plan because of the practical challenge of handling a large volume of enquiries.

He said advances in AI, particularly the emergence of ChatGPT, revived the concept, while collaboration with AI programmer Damilola Adelaja helped bring the platform to life.

Despite the rapid growth of generative AI, Badiru cautioned students against treating the technology as an unquestionable authority.
He noted that AskProf includes a disclaimer encouraging users to verify responses and provides a feedback mechanism through which students can rate the quality of answers.
“Don’t just use AI to get answers; use it to become smarter,” he said.

Badiru said the platform was intentionally made free to ensure that financial constraints do not prevent students from accessing educational support.

“My learning philosophy is that we all learn better when we are all on the same page. The only way we could all be on the same page is if we all have equal access, which is only possible if the access is free,” he said.

He argued that AI could play a significant role in Africa, where high student-to-teacher ratios often deny learners the individual attention they need.

While stressing that AI cannot replace teachers or solve overcrowded classrooms, he said platforms such as AskProf could provide students studying independently with access to guidance similar to private tutoring.

According to him, the platform was designed to align with Nigerian curricula while remaining light enough to operate on modest smartphones and limited data plans.

Although developed with Nigerian educational needs in mind, Badiru said AskProf was built for a global audience and already has users in the United States, with plans underway to introduce native mobile applications and partner with schools and universities.

He added that while it is too early to measure the platform’s impact on examination performance, early adoption by students, parents and lecturers has been encouraging.

“We want AskProf to serve as a proof that a tutor built with the right values, teach first, don’t just answer, can reach students a single professor never could in a lifetime of lecturing,” the don said.