AWARENESS AND UTILIZATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH BY BUSINESS EDUCATORS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

The 21st century has witnessed the emergence of artificial intelligence which is spearheading a digital revolution in various professional fields. Thus, business educators cannot afford to stand aloof. This situation prompted the researcher to investigate the awareness and utilization of artificial intelligence for academic research by business educators in tertiary institutions located in Southwest, Nigeria. Two purposes, two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the mixed method research design, while the population of the study consisted of 248 business educators in 18 tertiary institutions running Business Education programmes in Southwest, Nigeria. Census sampling technique was used for the study. Two major instruments were used for collecting data for the study, they are interview guide (for qualitative data) and questionnaire (for quantitative data). Cronbach Alpha formula was used to establish a reliability coefficient of 0.76 for the research instruments. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics, while the null hypothesis were tested at 0.05 level of significance using inferential statistics. Findings from the study revealed that, the level of awareness concerning artificial intelligence among business educators is moderate. It was also revealed that utilization of artificial intelligence for academic research by business educators is at a very low level. Finally, the study recommended that business educators should be encouraged to embark on self-development programmes to boost their awareness and proficiency in utilizing artificial intelligence for academic research.