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Need for Guidelines to Enhance Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education in Tanzania Artificial Intelligence; Ethical Guidelines; Higher Education.
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Abstract
Artificial intelligence is progressing at an astonishing pace, raising profound ethical concerns
regarding its use, ownership, accountability, and long-term implications for quality education. This
study explores the need for guidelines to inform and maintain ethical use of artificial intelligence in
higher education in Tanzania. The study was guided by three objectives that aimed to: examine
awareness of the use of artificial intelligence, identify ethical challenges arising from its use, and assess
the need to establish guidelines for the ethical use of artificial intelligence in higher education in
Tanzania. The study was conducted at fully fledged universities, where quality assurance practitioners
were involved in completing a questionnaire, and the Deputy Vice-Chancellors (responsible for
Academic Affairs) participated in interviews. Research findings show that the majority of respondents
are aware of the use of artificial intelligence in universities. Ethical challenges identified are the
existence of biases, lack of integrity, discrimination among users, lack of honesty, violation of
confidentiality, reduced transparency, violation of privacy, reduced accountability, and violation of
human dignity and rights. The study recommends universities to implement innovative mechanisms to
ensure ethical use of artificial intelligence, including capacity-building through training.
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