1 Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm
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Expert System (AI) is reinventing education while making finding out more accessible but likewise sparking debates on its impact.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their knowing experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens scholastic stability, specifically with lots of students not able to safeguard their assignments or given works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, suvenir51.ru in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed disappointment over the growing dependence on AI-generated actions amongst trainees stating a current experience he had.

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"I gave a project to my MBA students, and out of over 100 students, about 40% submitted the precise very same answers. These students did not even know each other, however they all utilized the same AI tool to generate their actions," he said.

He noted that this trend is widespread among both undergraduate and postgraduate students but is especially worrying in part-time and distance learning programs.

"AI is a major challenge when it comes to assignments. Many students no longer think critically-they simply go online, create answers, and send," he included.

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

This debate raises critical questions about the role of AI in scholastic integrity and bphomesteading.com trainee development.

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

As of December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent every day around the globe.

Decline of academic rigor

University speakers are increasingly concerned about students sending AI-generated tasks without truly comprehending the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his to Nairametrics about trainees progressively depending on ChatGPT, only to struggle with answering standard questions when evaluated.

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit sleek assignments, however when asked fundamental questions, they go blank. It's disappointing because education is about discovering, not simply passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing variety of superior graduates can not be entirely attributed to AI however confessed that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A first-rate trainee is a first-rate student, AI or not, however that doesn't imply they do not cheat. The benefits of AI might be peripheral, but it is making students reliant 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 trainees utilizing AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course details, marking schemes, and even test concerns with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn use AI to generate answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine knowing," he lamented.

Students' perspectives on usage

Students, on the other hand, say AI has actually improved their knowing experience by making academic materials more easy to understand 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 helped me understand things more easily, especially when dealing with complex topics," she discussed.

However, she recalled a circumstances when she used AI to submit her project, just for her speaker to immediately acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently finished with a first-rate 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 exceptional grades to actively interesting by asking concerns and focusing on locations that speakers emphasize in class, as they are frequently reflected in test concerns.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge shared by my associates," he stated,

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

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts believe the option depends on AI literacy