Google on Tuesday warned against using Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a shortcut to learning, urging students to harness the technology to strengthen critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving skills.

Google’s Vice President, Chris Phillips, gave the warning at a virtual roundtable on Google’s new AI-powered learning tools for students and teachers.

Phillips, also the General Manager, Education, said that AI was reshaping education but teachers must remain at the centre of the learning process.

He said that Google’s global study with Ipsos showed that learning had become the top reason people turned to AI.

According to him, 86 per cent of teachers want to use AI in their classrooms, but only 17 per cent feel adequately trained to use it effectively.

He said that Google was addressing the gap through its free Google Educator Series, offering short, practical AI training to help teachers build confidence and skills.

Phillips said that AI tools were already helping educators save up to 10 hours weekly on administrative tasks, giving them more time to engage with students.

He said that Google was also expanding teacher-led AI features in Google Classroom to enable educators to create assignments, guide students and monitor their progress.

The vice president said that AI should support teachers rather than replace them, adding that the technology should strengthen human connection between teachers and students.

He said that the future of AI in education should be built around empowering teachers and students, rather than replacing human judgment.

Phillips said: “The real breakthrough lies in helping people unlock their own potential.”

Google’s Head of Learning Science, Julia Wilcowski, said that meaningful learning required effort, including engaging with content, recalling information, practising, reflecting and applying knowledge.

Wilcowski said that Google was designing its AI education tools around learning science principles to ensure that students were guided towards discovering solutions rather than simply receiving answers.

She said that an eight-week trial in Sierra Leone showed significant improvement in mathematics among students whose teachers incorporated Google’s guided learning tool into lessons.

According to her, the improvement is equivalent to between 1.8 and 2.5 years of typical academic progress. 

She said that teachers in Italy who used Gemini to generate learning materials recorded improved learning outcomes, with more than 80 per cent of students demonstrating the skills targeted in their lessons.

Wilcowski also highlighted the importance of fact-checking and critical thinking because AI systems could still produce inaccurate information, known as hallucinations.

Google’s Director of Gemini for Education, Marta McAlister, said that the company was introducing new learning features in Gemini and Search, to help students organize their studies and learn at their own pace.

McAlister said that students could upload syllabuses, lecture notes and study guides into Gemini to create personalised study notebooks, diagnostic quizzes, bite-sized lessons and progress tracking.

She said that Gemini would also provide interactive quizzes, visualisations, voice-based learning and step-by-step assistance for complex problems.

According to her, Google Lens will soon allow students to use their phone cameras to analyse difficult diagrams and mathematics problems, identify mistakes and receive step-by-step guidance. 

She said that Google was offering Google AI Plus free for 12 months to eligible students aged 18 and above in more than 140 countries, including countries in Africa.

McAlister said that the offer would provide students with access to advanced AI learning tools, unlimited file uploads and 400GB of storage.

Google officials, however, emphasised that students and teachers must continue to verify AI-generated information and understand how answers are produced. (NAN)

The Gbongan Unit Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Osun recorded a 25 per cent reduction in road crashes between January and August, compared with the same period in 2025.

The Unit Commander, Dr.

Odinfono also said the unit recorded an 83.

He said the unit conducted 468 patrol operations during the period, including eight Special Intervention Patrols carried out in collaboration with the Joint Task Force.

According to him, the operations led to the arrest of 3,166 offenders and the booking of 3,226 offences involving various traffic violations.

Odinfono said four reorientation programmes were also conducted, involving 118 offenders and other road users.

“The unit introduced an Offenders’ Reorientation Programme as part of efforts to complement the vision of the Corps Marshal.

“The programme, conducted with transportation stakeholders, exposes selected offenders to road traffic accident videos and pictorial materials showing the consequences of dangerous driving and other traffic violations,” he said.

Odinfono added that the initiative was aimed at helping offenders understand the consequences of unsafe road practices and encouraging them to adopt safer attitudes.

He explained that the reorientation activities formed part of 168 public education programmes conducted by the command, including roadside campaigns, motor park sensitisation and community engagements.

Odinfono, however, urged personnel to remain friendly, firm and fair in the discharge of their duties. (NAN)

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may most likely be going to pause its output increases for the fourth quarter of this year as analysts expect that the global oil body still has another layer of production cuts in place, covering most members of the 21-country group until the end of 2026.

According to analysts before the group decides how to unwind the cuts and return production ⁠to the market, it needs to review members’ oil production capacity to set 2027 output baselines, which form the basis for quotas.

This debate will likely happen later in 2026 and hence OPEC+ is likely to hold on to output increases in the last quarter, sources earlier told Reuters.

Only the seven OPEC+ members who met on Sunday, plus ⁠the United Arab Emirates until it left OPEC in May, have been involved in monthly output decisions in recent years.

The seven countries will hold their next meeting on October 4.

Meanwhile, the OPEC+ kept its oil output policy unchanged for ‌October, it said in a statement, as the producer group needs to agree new quotas before deciding its next output steps.

The meeting of seven core OPEC+ members Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman — comes as the Iran war continues to disrupt oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, limiting OPEC+’s influence over prices ⁠and market share.

In August, OPEC+ agreed its production boost for September, completing a phased rollback of a 1.65 million-barrel-per-day supply cut first agreed in 2023. Despite the agreed production increases, the group made up of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, still produces far below its targets because of the war.

“OPEC+ currently has very limited power over the physical oil market,” said Jorge Leon of Rystad Energy. “The group can change production targets on paper, but it cannot guarantee that those barrels will be produced or ‌actually ⁠reach the market.”

“The focus now shifts away from monthly production adjustments and towards the much more consequential debate over 2027.”