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Nigerian Students Turn To AI For Tests Answers Lecturers Raise Alarm
Expert System (AI) is reinventing education while making finding out more available however also stimulating disputes on its impact.
While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, particularly with numerous trainees not able to defend their projects or offered works.
Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed frustration over the growing dependence on AI-generated responses among students stating a current experience he had.
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"I provided a project to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 students, about 40% submitted the exact very same answers. These students did not even understand each other, however they all used the same AI tool to create their responses," he stated.
He noted that this pattern is common amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is particularly concerning in part-time and range learning programs.
"AI is a severe difficulty when it pertains to assignments. Many trainees no longer think critically-they just go on the internet, generate answers, and send," he included.
Surprisingly, some speakers are likewise accused of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both educators and trainees turn to AI for convenience instead of intellectual rigor.
This debate raises vital concerns about the function of AI in academic integrity and trainee advancement.
According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million month-to-month active users in January 2023, just one country had actually released policies on generative AI since July 2023.
As of December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent out every day worldwide.
Decline of academic rigor
University lecturers are increasingly concerned about students sending AI-generated tasks without truly comprehending the content.
Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his issues to Nairametrics about trainees increasingly relying on ChatGPT, suvenir51.ru just to deal with addressing fundamental questions when evaluated.
"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send sleek assignments, but when asked standard concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing because education has to do with finding out, not simply passing courses," he said.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing number of first-class graduates can not be totally credited to AI however admitted that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A superior trainee is a first-rate student, AI or not, however that does not imply they don't cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, but it is making trainees dependent and less analytical," he said.
- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different concern that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not simply students using AI lazily. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course details, marking plans, and even test concerns with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn use AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine knowing," he regreted.
Students' point of views on usage
Students, on the other hand, state AI has actually enhanced their knowing experience by making scholastic products more understandable and accessible.
- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has substantially helped her learning by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI assisted me comprehend things more quickly, particularly when dealing with complicated topics," she described.
However, she remembered an instance when she used AI to submit her task, only for her lecturer to instantly recognize that it was generated by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad result.
- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently finished with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, firmly thinks that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his outstanding grades to actively appealing by asking questions and focusing on areas that lecturers emphasize in class, as they are often shown in exam concerns.
"It's everything about being present, focusing, and using the wealth of knowledge shared by my colleagues," he said,
- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to periodically copying directly from when facing numerous due dates.
"To be honest, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have several due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the lecturers don't get to check out through them, but AI has likewise assisted me learn much faster."
Balancing AI's function in education
Experts believe the service lies in AI literacy; mentor trainees and lecturers how to utilize AI as a knowing help rather than a shortcut.
- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the combination of AI into Nigeria's education system, worrying the importance of a well balanced approach that maintains human participation while utilizing AI to enhance discovering results.
"As we navigate the quickly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is important that we prioritise human firm in education. We must ensure that AI enhances, rather than changes, teachers' crucial function in shaping young minds," he said
Concerns over AI in Learning
Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity change expert, kenpoguy.com dealt with growing issues relating to making use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible dangers to the instructional system.
- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, nevertheless, stressed the need for caution in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance among educators and schools toward including AI tools in discovering environments. She recognized two primary reasons why AI tools are dissuaded in academic settings: security dangers and plagiarism. She described that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based on user interactions, which may not line up with the expectations of educators.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade said, describing that AI does not deal with specific mentor techniques.
Plagiarism is another concern, as AI pulls from existing information, typically without appropriate attribution
"A lot of individuals need to comprehend, like I said, this is information that has actually 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 suggests that is another person's paperwork," she cautioned.
- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early concern in AI development understood as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce details that was not factual.
"Hallucination meant that it was highlighting info from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she described.
She suggested "grounding" AI by providing it with particular details to avoid such errors.
Navigating AI in Education
Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the option, particularly when AI provides a chance to leapfrog standard academic methods.
- She believes that regularly enhancing essential details assists individuals keep in mind and avoid making errors when faced with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the same thing over and over once again, when they are about to make the errors, then they'll keep in mind."
She also empasized the need for clear policies and treatments within schools, keeping in mind that many schools must resolve individuals and procedure aspects of this usage.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually resorted to in-class tasks and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I generally use projects to guarantee trainees offer initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this technique challenging.
"If you set intricate concerns, trainees won't be able to use AI to get direct responses," he described.
He highlighted the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting examination concerns that AI can not easily fix while acknowledging that some speakers struggle to counter AI abuse due to an absence of technological awareness. "Some speakers are analogue," he stated.
- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the regulation of AI in education, recommending organizations to examine algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they satisfy ethical requirements, protect user information, and filter improper material.
- It stresses the requirement to evaluate the long-term effect of AI on important abilities like believing and creativity while producing policies that line up with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO recommends carrying out age constraints for GenAI use to secure younger students and protect susceptible groups.
- For governments, it advised adopting a collaborated national technique to managing GenAI, consisting of establishing oversight bodies and lining up guidelines with existing data defense and personal privacy laws. It stresses assessing AI risks, enforcing stricter guidelines for high-risk applications, and ensuring national data ownership.