St. Thomas Aquinas Senior High School (SHS) emerged winners in the 21st Ghana International Book Fair (GIBF) schools’ debate, defeating three other schools in the process in Accra, last Thursday.
This year’s annual event saw the Aburi Girls SHS finish in second place, Presbyterian Boys SHS finish in third place, and West Africa SHS finish in fourth position.
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The Ghana Publishers Association and Afram Publications jointly organised the competition. “AI will redefine what it means to be human” was the subject of discussion.
There were two phases to the competition: St. Thomas Aquinas SHS defeated West Africa SHS in the preliminary debate to go to the final, and Aburi Girls SHS defeated Presbyterian Boys SHS to advance as well.
The judges decided to hold a tie-breaking round because the final result was a tie. Next, with a three-point advantage over Aburi Girls, St. Thomas Aquinas SHS triumphed.
The purpose of the debate was to start a critical conversation on how artificial intelligence (AI) is affecting society, ethics, and human identity. In favour of the motion, St. Thomas Aquinas SHS said that AI was redefining humanity by improving cognitive capacities, changing the nature of work, and encouraging cooperation between humans and AI.
They emphasised how AI might alter human experiences by processing large amounts of data, automating jobs, and simulating human interactions.
Opposing the motion, Aburi Girls SHS contended that because AI lacked emotional intelligence, creativity, self-awareness, and moral reasoning, it could not reinvent what it meant to be human.
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They underlined that while AI could not fully recreate the intricacies of human nature, it was a tool meant to help.
