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 sparking disputes on its effect.


While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines scholastic stability, especially with lots of students unable to defend their tasks or given works.


Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed frustration over the growing dependence on AI-generated responses amongst trainees stating 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% submitted the exact very same responses. These trainees did not even know each other, however they all used the very same AI tool to create their reactions," he stated.


He kept in mind that this pattern is widespread amongst both undergraduate and koha-community.cz postgraduate students however is especially concerning in part-time and range knowing programs.


"AI is a severe obstacle when it pertains to tasks. Many students no longer believe critically-they simply browse the web, produce responses, and send," he added.


Surprisingly, some speakers are also accused of over-relying on AI, shiapedia.1god.org setting a cycle where both educators and students turn to AI for convenience rather than intellectual rigor.


This argument raises crucial questions about the function of AI in scholastic stability and student advancement.


According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million regular monthly active users in January 2023, just one country had actually launched guidelines on generative AI as of July 2023.


Since December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million individuals utilizing the AI chatbot each week and 1 billion messages sent every day around the world.


Decline of academic rigor


University speakers are significantly worried about students sending AI-generated assignments without truly comprehending the content.


Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about trainees significantly relying on ChatGPT, only to battle with addressing standard concerns when evaluated.


"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit sleek tasks, but when asked standard questions, they go blank. It's disappointing since education is about learning, not just passing courses," he stated.


- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing variety of top-notch graduates can not be totally attributed to AI however confessed that even high-performing students use these tools.


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


- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different issue 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, produce lesson notes, course details, marking plans, and even exam questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn use AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine learning," he regreted.


Students' viewpoints on use


Students, on the other hand, state AI has improved their learning experience by making scholastic products more reasonable and available.


- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has actually considerably helped her knowing by breaking down complex terms and providing summaries of prolonged texts.


"AI assisted me understand things more quickly, specifically when dealing with intricate subjects," she discussed.


However, she remembered an instance when she utilized AI to submit her project, only for her speaker to instantly recognize that it was generated by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.


- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a top-notch 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 exceptional grades to actively engaging by asking questions and focusing on locations that speakers stress in class, as they are frequently reflected in test concerns.


"It's all about existing, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge shared by my colleagues," he stated,


- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to periodically copying straight from ChatGPT when dealing with numerous due dates.


"To be sincere, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have numerous deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, most times the speakers do not get to check out them, but AI has likewise assisted me discover quicker."


Balancing AI's function in education


Experts think the option lies in AI literacy; teaching trainees and speakers how to utilize AI as a learning help instead of a shortcut.


- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the importance of a balanced technique that preserves human participation while harnessing AI to improve finding out results.


"As we navigate the quickly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is important that we prioritise human firm in education. We should guarantee that AI boosts, instead of replaces, teachers' crucial function in shaping young minds," he said


Concerns over AI in Learning


Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity change expert, addressed growing concerns regarding making use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their prospective risks to the educational system.


- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, however, stressed the requirement for care in its use.

- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance amongst educators and schools towards including AI tools in discovering environments. She determined 2 main reasons AI tools are dissuaded in educational settings: security dangers and plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based on user interactions, which might not align with the expectations of teachers.


"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, discussing that AI does not accommodate particular mentor wiki.snooze-hotelsoftware.de methods.


Plagiarism is another problem, as AI pulls from existing data, typically without appropriate attribution


"A lot of people need to comprehend, like I stated, this is data that has been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing info that some other people are fed into it, which in essence implies that is another person's documents," she warned.


- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early issue in AI development understood as "hallucination," where AI tools would generate info that was not accurate.


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


She recommended "grounding" AI by supplying it with specific details to avoid such mistakes.


Navigating AI in Education


Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the service, especially when AI presents an opportunity to leapfrog standard academic methods.


- She believes that consistently enhancing essential info helps people remember and avoid making errors when confronted with obstacles.


"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the same thing over and over again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll remember."


She likewise empasized the requirement for clear policies and procedures within schools, keeping in mind that numerous schools ought to deal with individuals and procedure elements of this use.


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


"Now, I mainly utilize assignments to guarantee trainees provide original work." However, he acknowledged that handling large classes makes this approach tough.


"If you set complex concerns, trainees will not be able to use AI to get direct answers," he described.


He stressed the requirement for universities to train lecturers on crafting exam questions that AI can not easily solve while acknowledging that some lecturers struggle to counter AI misuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some speakers are analogue," he stated.


- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, concentrating on ethical AI advancement with fairness, suvenir51.ru openness, accountability, and privacy at its core.

in a report requires the guideline of AI in education, recommending institutions to examine algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they meet ethical requirements, protect user information, and filter inappropriate material.

- It stresses the requirement to examine the long-lasting impact of AI on critical skills like thinking and creativity while developing policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO suggests executing age constraints for GenAI use to safeguard younger trainees and secure susceptible groups.
- For federal governments, it advised adopting a collaborated nationwide approach to regulating GenAI, consisting of developing oversight bodies and lining up regulations with existing information defense and privacy laws. It stresses evaluating AI risks, implementing more stringent guidelines for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing national information ownership.