Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the way teachers teach and students learn. This study investigated the impact of teachers’ AI competence on students’ learning outcomes in junior public secondary schools in Abuja Municipality, Nigeria. The study drew its foundation from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). It adopted a convergent research design to investigate the competence of teachers on AI pedagogy and its influence on students’ learning. The target population comprised 10 principals, 340 teachers and 8569 students in public junior secondary schools in Abuja Municipality, Nigeria. Using purposive, census, stratified and simple random sampling, a total sample of 446 was gathered from principals, teachers and students. Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observation guides, validated through construct, content and face validity, were adopted as data-gathering instruments. The qualitative data were analyzed by means of thematic analysis with the findings presented in direct quotes and narrations, while the quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as percentages and frequencies, with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29.0. The hypothesis was tested through Pearson correlation analysis. The findings suggested that teachers’ low AI competence limits the impact of AI on students’ learning outcomes. The study points to the need for teachers’ professional training on AI pedagogy and school-wide AI policies in the Nigerian basic education curriculum. 

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence Competence, learning outcomes, Public Junior Secondary schools