CHALLENGES IN DEPLOYING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN SCHOOL, COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION AND PRACTICES

Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds significant promise for advancing education, community health, and environmental health practices in Nigeria. Despite this potential, AI deployment in these sectors faces critical challenges including inadequate infrastructure, limited human capacity, fragmented governance and ethical concerns, and financial constraints. This paper uses a literature-driven conceptual approach grounded in a socio-technical systems framework to critically analyze these barriers within Nigeria’s unique socio-economic and institutional context. Findings highlight that without addressing systemic infrastructural deficits, building digital and AI literacy, establishing robust regulatory frameworks, and ensuring sustainable funding, AI integration will remain limited in scope and impact. It is recommended that policymakers and stakeholders implement coordinated strategies focusing on infrastructure development, capacity building, ethical governance, and financial sustainability to realize AI’s transformative benefits in Nigerian schools, community health programs, and environmental health initiatives.