Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm

Expert System (AI) is transforming education while making finding out more accessible however also sparking arguments on its impact.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for links.gtanet.com.br improving their knowing experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic stability, particularly with numerous trainees unable to protect their projects or offered works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed aggravation over the growing reliance on AI-generated responses amongst trainees 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% submitted the specific same responses. These trainees did not even know each other, however they all used the very same AI tool to create their actions," he said.

He kept in mind that this pattern prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees but is particularly concerning in part-time and distance learning programs.

"AI is a severe obstacle when it pertains to assignments. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they simply browse the web, produce answers, and send," he included.

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

This dispute raises important concerns about the function of AI in scholastic integrity and student advancement.

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

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

Decline of academic rigor

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

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students significantly relying on ChatGPT, just to fight with responding to basic questions when tested.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit sleek projects, but when asked basic questions, they go blank. It's disappointing due to the fact that education is about discovering, not just passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing variety of superior graduates can not be completely associated to AI but confessed that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.
"A first-rate student is a first-class trainee, AI or not, however that does not indicate they do not cheat. The advantages of AI might be peripheral, however it is making students dependent and less analytical," he stated.

- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different issue that some speakers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not just trainees utilizing AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course lays out, marking plans, and even exam questions with AI without examining them. Students in turn use AI to create answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating real knowing," he regreted.

Students' viewpoints on use

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

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has considerably aided her learning by breaking down complex terms and providing summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI helped me comprehend things more quickly, specifically when handling complicated subjects," she explained.

However, she recalled a circumstances when she used AI to submit her project, only for her lecturer to instantly recognize that it was generated by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently finished with a superior degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely thinks that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his exceptional grades to actively interesting by asking questions and concentrating on locations that speakers highlight in class, as they are frequently shown in examination concerns.
"It's everything about being present, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to occasionally copying straight from ChatGPT when facing numerous due dates.
"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers do not get to check out through them, but AI has likewise assisted me discover quicker."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the option lies in AI literacy; teaching students and lecturers how to use 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, worrying the importance of a well balanced approach that preserves human participation while harnessing AI to improve learning outcomes.
"As we navigate the quickly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is vital that we prioritise human company in education. We should make sure that AI boosts, instead of replaces, teachers' vital role in shaping young minds," he said

Concerns over AI in Learning

Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity improvement expert, resolved growing concerns relating to using synthetic intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their prospective risks to the educational system.

- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, nevertheless, stressed the need for care in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among teachers and galgbtqhistoryproject.org schools towards incorporating AI tools in finding out environments. She identified two main reasons that AI tools are dissuaded in educational settings: security risks and oke.zone plagiarism. She explained that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based upon user interactions, which might not align with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, explaining that AI doesn't cater to specific mentor approaches.

Plagiarism is another issue, as AI pulls from existing data, typically without proper attribution

"A lot of people require 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 details that some other people are fed into it, which in essence means that is another person's documents," she cautioned.

- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early issue in AI advancement referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce info that was not accurate.
"Hallucination indicated that it was highlighting info from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that info from you, it was going to make one up," she discussed.

She recommended "grounding" AI by providing it with specific information to prevent such mistakes.

Navigating AI in Education

Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the service, especially when AI provides a chance to leapfrog traditional instructional techniques.

- She thinks that consistently strengthening essential details helps people keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when confronted with difficulties.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell people the very same thing over and over once again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll remember."

She likewise empasized the need for clear policies and procedures within schools, noting that many schools need to deal with individuals and procedure aspects of this usage.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has turned to in-class assignments and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I mainly use projects to ensure trainees offer original work." However, he acknowledged that handling big classes makes this technique challenging.

"If you set complicated concerns, trainees won't be able to utilize AI to get direct answers," he explained.

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

- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, openness, accountability, and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the regulation of AI in education, encouraging organizations to audit algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they fulfill ethical requirements, secure user data, and filter unsuitable material.
- It worries the requirement to examine the long-lasting impact of AI on crucial abilities like thinking and imagination while developing policies that line up with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO advises executing age limitations for GenAI usage to secure more youthful trainees and secure vulnerable groups.
- For federal governments, it advised adopting a coordinated national approach to controling GenAI, consisting of developing oversight bodies and lining up regulations with existing information defense and chessdatabase.science privacy laws. It stresses examining AI threats, enforcing stricter guidelines for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing nationwide data ownership.