Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping education across the globe, offering unprecedented opportunities to personalise learning, improve access to knowledge and ease administrative burdens. However, Africa’s education systems must ensure that technological innovation strengthens, rather than replaces, the human relationships at the heart of teaching and learning.
According to Professor Anné Verhoef, Director of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) AI Hub, the challenge is no longer whether AI will become part of education, but how educators and institutions can use it responsibly while preserving the uniquely human qualities that define meaningful learning.
“AI has enormous potential to support teaching and learning,” says Prof. Verhoef. “But it should empower teachers, not replace them.”
Rather than replacing educators, AI has the potential to free teachers from repetitive administrative tasks, allowing more time for mentoring, creativity and meaningful engagement with learners. The real opportunity, he argues, lies in combining technological capability with uniquely human qualities such as empathy, wisdom, ethical judgement and lived experience.
While AI is transforming classrooms across the world, Prof. Verhoef believes teachers will remain indispensable.
“In the age of AI we will still need teachers,” he says. “But they will need to be teachers who are empowered by AI and who, in turn, empower their students.”
As AI becomes more deeply embedded in education, he argues that AI literacy will become just as important as digital literacy. Learners and educators alike need to understand not only how to use AI tools effectively, but also how to question, verify and critically evaluate the information they produce.
Another significant challenge is the growing digital divide.
Prof. Verhoef points out that while premium AI platforms increasingly draw on authoritative, peer-reviewed scientific literature, many freely available tools rely on broader internet sources whose quality varies considerably. This creates the risk that students with greater financial resources gain access to substantially more reliable knowledge than those who depend solely on free platforms.
“There are specialised AI tools that consult only peer-reviewed research,” he explains. “If some people can afford those tools while others depend only on freely available platforms, the digital divide will increase. That is something we need to address through education and guidance.”
Adding to this concern, Dr Edmund Terem, whose research focuses on the ethical development of AI in the Global South, warns that unequal access to high-quality AI tools could have consequences that extend far beyond individual classrooms.
“If the majority of people access information from less reliable sources,” he says, “that knowledge begins to proliferate more widely, even when it cannot be properly verified.”
He argues that universities and governments should consider investing in institution-wide access to advanced AI platforms, ensuring that students have equitable opportunities to engage with high-quality, evidence-based knowledge. At the same time, institutions must continue developing students’ critical-thinking abilities so that they remain capable of evaluating AI-generated information independently.
Looking ahead, one of the most pressing questions is whether university lecturers themselves could become obsolete.
Prof. Verhoef acknowledges that AI is becoming increasingly capable of preparing learning materials, marking assessments, designing tutorials and supporting self-directed learning. While he remains confident that teachers will continue to play a vital role, he believes the role of university lecturers may evolve considerably as AI becomes more sophisticated.
“I think many lecturers will not be needed in future, even if they are the best lecturers possible,” he says. “AI will outsmart us because it can work through so much data and knowledge at such speed, do marking, lesson planning and tutorials.”
Yet, he believes the defining value of higher education will continue to lie in what AI cannot replicate.
Reflecting on philosophy as an example, Prof. Verhoef says that while AI can generate convincing answers to profound questions such as the meaning of life, those answers are not shaped by lived human experience. Universities therefore have an increasingly important responsibility to preserve and cultivate the distinctly human dimensions of knowledge.
“What is that unique thing in our disciplines,” he asks, “that emphasises the human element and helps us remain human?”
For Africa, where education systems continue to grapple with unequal access to resources and opportunities, AI has the potential to become a powerful force for educational transformation. Technology alone, however, cannot solve systemic challenges. Success will depend on thoughtful leadership, investment in digital inclusion, responsible governance and a continued commitment to placing people at the centre of education.
As AI continues to evolve, Prof. Verhoef believes Africa’s classrooms should embrace technological innovation without sacrificing the critical thinking, ethical judgement and human relationships that remain the foundation of quality education.
By Bertie Jacobs ([email protected])
The author is a communication specialist at the North-West University, South Africa, Potchefstroom Campus.
