The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has proposed measures that governments might deploy so as to harness the positive aspects of Artificial Intelligence ( AI) for improvement.
Olaopa spoke on Thursday in Abuja on “Media And Information Literacy, AI And Youth Creativity” throughout a stakeholders’ dinner organised by the International Media and Information Literacy Institute (IMILI) in partnership with UNESCO to mark the 2026 Global Media and Information Literacy (GMIL) Week
According to Olaopa, by a correct understanding of Media & Information Literacy (MIL), numerous competences are being developed for the correct deployment of AI instruments . He referred to instructional fashions that assist in supply
analysis and fact-checking and AI literacy and integration that result in accountable generative AI use that paves the way in which for empowered youth creativity, moral content material creation, and
progressive drawback fixing.
To Olaopa, when generative AI instruments are built-in into literacy curricula, they maintain the potential of significantly decreasing the cognitive load for youthful learners, making complicated analysis and data synthesis extra accessible.
According to him, MIL equips youth with the capability to detect automated textual content or graphics, and to set strict boundaries, cross-examine outputs, and counter hidden AI biases.
“Thus, a mastery of the dual disciplines of MIL and AI rescues technology from the trap of being an automated shortcut. It rather becomes a path for multi-faceted development”, he mentioned.
He mentioned that to get the most effective of media, info literacy, AI and youth creativity, the academic system needs to be reworked to replicate studying fashions that align with modern technological actuality.
He mentioned that this could result in reviewing coverage frameworks to formally mix knowledge literacy and AI ethics into mainstream faculty methods.
Stressing the necessity for institutional hubs like educational libraries and group media networks that needs to be empowered to make sure primary AI literacy for marginalized youth, he mentioned this could result in bridging the infrastructural hole. He decried a state of affairs the place whereas advantaged youth are acquainted with even the superior world of media and AI, there are deprived youth with out entry to the essential information of media and AI instruments, not to mention info literacy.
” Such youth want entry to the Internet and AI instruments of their native settings for his or her creativity to flourish”, he mentioned.
But to Olaopa, whereas AI and trendy media have opened prospects in youth creativity, workplaces and democratised info that’s important for the safety of democracy as a counterweight to tyranny as demonstrated within the. Arab Spring and ENDSARS, there’s the necessity to reckon with their bleak implications for humanity.
He mentioned that the late scientist Stephen Hawking was so involved in regards to the affect of fast-paced technological improvement on humanity that in 2015, alongside greater than 1,000 different consultants and researchers, particularly in robotics and synthetic intelligence, wrote an open letter offered on the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Argentina.
He mentioned that it was borne out of a collective concern about the potential of AI — and particularly the hazards inherent in “a military artificial intelligence arms race” — being humanity’s “biggest existential threat” and the potential of this translating into “the end of the human race.”
He mentioned that Hawking questioned if the human race might survive the following 100 years. He mentioned that the nervousness of Hawking was not misplaced amid a world during which machines are more and more taking up nearly each sphere of human life.
“Robotics and intelligent machines have taken over the workplace. They are even taking over the the role of a wife or husband. With their dominance at home, and thus replacing a human wife or husband, Hawking’s prediction might after all not be a ruse but a dark reality awaiting humanity”, he mentioned.
Consequently, he confused the need for MIL that will allow humanity to profitably navigate the technological actuality of the fashionable world.
“Since human beings were responsible for the creation of AI as they were responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb and the Holocaust, it should not be taken for granted that they know how to tame AI. Rather, humanity should step forward and make a determined effort to stop AI from running amok. It is only through that we can enjoy the possibilities in media, information literacy, AI and youth creativity”, he added.
