Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the 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.
Badiru, an educator with more than four decades of professorial experience and creator of the AI-powered educational platform, AskProf, said AI should be used to strengthen critical thinking, improve knowledge retention and expand access to quality education.
Speaking on the platform, he explained that AskProf was designed to help learners understand concepts, revise effectively and identify areas requiring improvement instead of merely generating answers.
“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,” he said.
According to him, the platform enables students to convert study sessions into flashcards, quizzes and summary notes while tracking topics they have mastered and areas where they need further improvement.
He added that AskProf can support 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.
Badiru said the platform also provides classroom management tools for teachers and lecturers, enabling them to create virtual classes, monitor students’ learning progress and identify topics that require additional explanation.
He disclosed that the idea behind AskProf predates the emergence of generative AI, noting that he registered the AskProf.com domain more than two decades ago with the intention of responding to students’ academic questions by email before advances in AI made the vision achievable.
According to him, the emergence of ChatGPT and his collaboration with AI programmer Damilola Adelaja eventually led to the development of the platform.
Despite the rapid growth of generative AI, Badiru cautioned students against accepting AI-generated responses without verification.
“Don’t just use AI to get answers; use it to become smarter,” he advised.
He noted that AskProf includes a disclaimer encouraging users to verify responses and a feedback system that allows students to rate the quality of answers.
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 help bridge learning gaps in Africa, where high student-to-teacher ratios often limit individual academic support, stressing, however, that the technology cannot replace teachers.
According to him, AskProf was designed to align with the Nigerian curriculum while remaining accessible on smartphones with limited data plans.
Although developed with Nigerian learners in mind, Badiru said the platform already has users in the United States, with plans to launch mobile applications and expand partnerships with schools and universities.
He expressed optimism that the platform would continue to improve access to personalised learning, saying its mission is to ensure students use AI to learn, think critically and achieve lasting academic success.
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