THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF MASS COMMUNICATION STUDENTS AT KASHIM IBRAHIM UNIVERSITY

Abstract This study investigates the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the academic performance of Mass Communication students at Kashim Ibrahim University (KIU), Maiduguri, within a resource-constrained and post-conflict context. The research adopted a descriptive survey design, employing a structured questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 200 students selected via stratified random sampling, with 65 respondents successfully participating. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages. The findings reveal a high level of awareness of AI (80% familiarity), predominantly with globally popular tools like ChatGPT (98.5%) and Grammarly (84.6%). Students primarily use AI for research (87.7%), writing and editing (84.6%), and understanding complex topics (75.4%). A significant majority of respondents perceived AI as highly useful, particularly for saving time (88.7% agreement) and improving assignment quality (80.7% agreement), with 64.6% reporting a self-perceived positive influence on their CGPA. However, major challenges impede optimal adoption, including unreliable internet connectivity (90.8%), high data costs (84.6%), and concerns about content accuracy (69.2%) and academic dishonesty (64.6%). The study concludes that while AI holds significant potential to enhance academic performance and productivity, its effective integration is hampered by infrastructural, epistemological, and ethical barriers. It is recommended that the university prioritizes improving campus internet infrastructure, provides structured AI training workshops, develops clear ethical use policies, and progressively integrates AI tools into the curriculum to harness its benefits fully for Mass Communication education.