APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)ANDBUSINESS EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATES’ ACQUISITION OF COGNITIVE INNOVATIVE SKILLS FOR SELF-SUSTENANCE IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the application of AI andbusiness education undergraduates’ acquisition of cognitive innovation skills for self-sustenance in Anambra State. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised 112 business educators in public tertiary institutions offering business education programme in the State.Structured questionnaire containing 18 items, and faced validated by three experts in Business Education and Measurement and Evaluation was used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument calculated using Cronbach alpha formula yielded correlation coefficients of .85 and .77 for clusters B1 to B2 respectively with an overall index of.81. Mean, standard deviation and t-test were used for data collection. Findings revealed that business educators lowly apply AI in instructional delivery to enhance undergraduates’ acquisition of information literacy and analytical thinking skills for self-sustenance in Anambra State. It was also revealed that years of experience was not a significant factor on respondents’mean ratings on level of application of AI in enhancing undergraduates’ of the two skills covered. The researcher concluded that the potential of AI to enhance undergraduates’ acquisition of information literacy and analytical thinking skills for self-sustenance is yet to be fully realized. It was recommended that tertiary institutions in Anambra State should organize continuous professional development programmes and hands-on workshops to build business educators’ competence and confidence in integrating AI tools into instructional delivery. Theseprogrammes should focus on practical applications of AI for developing students’ information literacy and analytical thinking skills required for self-sustenance in the digital economy.