Nigerian Students Turn To AI For Tests Answers Lecturers Raise Alarm

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing education while making finding out more accessible however likewise triggering arguments on its impact.


While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their learning experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines scholastic integrity, specifically with lots of students not able to defend their assignments or offered works.


Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed aggravation over the growing dependence on AI-generated reactions amongst students recounting a recent experience he had.


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"I offered an assignment to my MBA students, and out of over 100 students, about 40% sent the exact same answers. These trainees did not even know each other, however they all utilized the very same AI tool to create their responses," he stated.


He noted that this trend prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is specifically worrying in part-time and distance knowing programs.


"AI is a serious difficulty when it comes to tasks. Many trainees no longer think critically-they simply browse the web, produce answers, and submit," he added.


Surprisingly, some speakers are likewise implicated of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both educators and students turn to AI for convenience rather than intellectual rigor.


This dispute raises vital questions about the role of AI in scholastic integrity and student advancement.


According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million month-to-month active users in January 2023, only one country had actually released policies on generative AI as of July 2023.


Since December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million people using the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent out every day worldwide.


Decline of academic rigor


University lecturers are progressively concerned about students submitting AI-generated projects without really understanding the material.


Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his issues to Nairametrics about trainees significantly relying on ChatGPT, only to fight with responding to fundamental questions when checked.


"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit refined assignments, however when asked basic concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing since education has to do with discovering, not just passing courses," he stated.


- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing number of top-notch graduates can not be entirely credited to AI but confessed that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.


"A top-notch trainee is a top-notch trainee, AI or not, but that doesn't suggest they don't cheat. The advantages of AI might be peripheral, but it is making students dependent and less analytical," he said.


- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the same practice.


"It's not just students using AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course describes, marking schemes, and even examination concerns with AI without examining them. Students in turn utilize AI to produce answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine knowing," he regreted.


Students' perspectives on usage


Students, on the other hand, state AI has enhanced their knowing experience by making scholastic products more easy to understand and available.


- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has significantly helped her learning by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of lengthy texts.


"AI helped me comprehend things more easily, specifically when handling complicated topics," she explained.


However, she remembered a circumstances when she utilized AI to submit her project, just for her speaker to instantly acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad result.


- Bryan Okwuba, wiki.fablabbcn.org who recently graduated with a first-rate degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, strongly believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his impressive grades to actively engaging by asking questions and concentrating on areas that lecturers stress in class, as they are typically reflected in test questions.


"It's everything about existing, paying attention, and using the wealth of knowledge shared by my coworkers," he stated,


- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to occasionally copying directly from ChatGPT when facing multiple due dates.


"To be honest, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I know I'm guilty of that, the majority of times the speakers don't get to read through them, however AI has actually likewise helped me learn much faster."


Balancing AI's function in education


Experts think the service lies in AI literacy; mentor students and lecturers how to use AI as a knowing aid instead of a shortcut.


- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the importance of a balanced technique that keeps human participation while utilizing AI to improve discovering outcomes.


"As we browse the rapidly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is essential that we prioritise human company in education. We must make sure that AI enhances, instead of changes, educators' important role in shaping young minds," he stated


Concerns over AI in Learning


Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity improvement professional, dealt with growing concerns regarding using synthetic intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their prospective risks to the academic system.


- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, nevertheless, highlighted the requirement for care in its usage.

- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among teachers and schools towards including AI tools in finding out environments. She identified 2 main reasons that AI tools are prevented in instructional settings: security dangers and plagiarism. She described that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based on user interactions, which may not align with the expectations of educators.


"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, discussing that AI does not cater to particular mentor techniques.


Plagiarism is another problem, as AI pulls from existing information, frequently without appropriate attribution


"A lot of people need to comprehend, like I said, this is information that has been trained on. It is not simply bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing information that some other people are fed into it, which in essence implies that is another individual's paperwork," she cautioned.


- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI advancement called "hallucination," where AI tools would create details that was not accurate.


"Hallucination meant that it was drawing out info from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she discussed.


She advised "grounding" AI by providing it with specific details to prevent such mistakes.


Navigating AI in Education


Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the solution, especially when AI presents a chance to leapfrog standard academic techniques.


- She thinks that regularly reinforcing essential information assists people keep in mind and prevent making errors when faced with challenges.


"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform individuals the same thing over and over again, when they are about to make the errors, then they'll remember."


She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and procedures within schools, in mind that numerous schools ought to attend to individuals and procedure aspects of this use.


- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has resorted to in-class tasks and tests to counter AI-driven scholastic dishonesty.


"Now, I generally utilize tasks to guarantee trainees provide original work." However, he acknowledged that managing big classes makes this method difficult.


"If you set complex questions, students won't be able to utilize AI to get direct responses," he described.


He emphasized the requirement for universities to train lecturers on crafting exam concerns that AI can not quickly fix while acknowledging that some speakers struggle to counter AI abuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some speakers are analogue," he said.


- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI advancement with fairness, openness, responsibility, and personal privacy at its core.

- UNESCO in a report calls for the regulation of AI in education, recommending organizations to examine algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they meet ethical standards, safeguard user data, and filter inappropriate content.

- It stresses the need to evaluate the long-term effect of AI on crucial abilities like thinking and creativity while producing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO advises executing age limitations for GenAI use to safeguard more youthful trainees and secure susceptible groups.
- For governments, it advised adopting a coordinated nationwide method to managing GenAI, including establishing oversight bodies and lining up guidelines with existing information defense and privacy laws. It highlights assessing AI dangers, enforcing stricter guidelines for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing nationwide information ownership.