
Abstract
Artificial intelligence is one of the tools for driving change management in Nigeria’s formal education sector with the goal of transitioning staff from a current state to a desired future state. This is a descriptive survey research design that investigated the effect of leveraging on artificial intelligence for change management in Nigeria’s formal education system. This study was carried out in the selected public universities in the south-south zone of Nigeria with 600 purposefully sampled respondents comprising of 300 teaching and non-teaching staff of some selected universities. A researcher-made rating scale titled “Artificial Intelligence and Change Management in Formal Education in Nigeria” (AICMFE) was used as the instrument for data collection. Two research questions were raised and two hypotheses formulated to guide the study. The mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data at 2.50 decision mark whereas independent z-test was adopted in testing the hypotheses. The result revealed that insufficient fund and poor policies and regulatory framework are some major challenges of AI adoption in public schools. In addition the study affirms that there is no significant difference between the mean score of teaching and non-teaching staff in the selected public universities in the south-south zone of Nigeria on the application and benefit of leveraging artificial intelligence for change management in the education sector. The study recommended as follows: that educational planners through the agency of the government should intensify efforts and develop strategic policies and plans for AI adoption; Institutional leaders to provide capacity-building programs for their teaching and non-teaching staff for necessary skills development, whereas the government should sufficiently fund the adoption and application of artificial intelligence in formal education activities in Nigeria and as well ensure continuous training of staff so as to maximize the benefits therefrom