OVER-RELIANCE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND STUDENTS' LEARNING COMPETENCIES IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA: A CORRELATIONAL STUDY

The increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education has created opportunities for personalised and efficient learning while also raising concerns about excessive dependence on AI and its implications for students' learning competencies. This study examined the relationship between over-reliance on Artificial Intelligence and students' learning competencies in higher educational institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the relationships between AI over-reliance and students' critical thinking, creativity, independent learning and human interaction. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was 32,000 undergraduate students, from which a sample of 420 students was selected using a multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using a researcher-developed 35-item Over-Reliance on Artificial Intelligence and Students' Learning Competencies Questionnaire (ORAISLCQ). Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to answer the four research questions, while simple linear regression was used to test the four null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Based on the results, over-reliance on AI had a significant negative relationship with critical thinking (r = -.480, p < .001), creativity (r = -.410, p < .001), independent learning (r = -.440, p < .001), and human interaction (r = -.360, p < .001). Regression analyses further showed that AI over-reliance significantly predicted critical thinking, accounting for 23.0% of its variance; creativity, 16.8%; independent learning, 19.4%; and human interaction, 13.0%. The study concludes that excessive dependence on AI may undermine important dimensions of students' learning competencies when AI substitutes for rather than complements students' own cognitive, creative, independent and interpersonal engagement. It recommends responsible and human-centred integration of AI in higher education, with institutional guidelines, AI-literacy programmes and teaching strategies designed to preserve students' independent reasoning, creativity, autonomous learning and meaningful human interaction.