camaluna

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

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing education while making finding out more accessible but also triggering disputes on its effect.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic stability, particularly with numerous trainees not able to protect their projects or given works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed disappointment over the growing reliance on AI-generated reactions amongst students stating a current experience he had.

RelatedStories

Avoid sharing personal details that can determine you with AI tools- Expert warns

Chinese AI app DeepSeek triggers worldwide tech selloff, challenges U.S. AI supremacy

"I gave a task to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% sent the precise same responses. These trainees did not even understand each other, but they all utilized the same AI tool to create their reactions," he said.

He kept in mind that this pattern is prevalent among both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees but is specifically worrying in part-time and distance knowing programs.

"AI is a major obstacle when it pertains to projects. Many students no longer believe critically-they simply go online, generate answers, and submit," he added.

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

This argument raises critical questions about the role of AI in academic integrity and student advancement.

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

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

Decline of scholastic rigor

University lecturers are increasingly worried about students submitting AI-generated tasks without really comprehending the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students significantly counting on ChatGPT, only to deal with answering basic concerns when tested.

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit polished assignments, but when asked basic questions, they go blank. It's frustrating due to the fact that education has to do with learning, not simply passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing number of superior graduates can not be completely credited to AI however confessed that even high-performing trainees utilize these tools.
"A top-notch student is a first-rate trainee, AI or not, however that does not imply they don't cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, however it is making trainees reliant and less analytical," he said.

- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different issue that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not simply trainees utilizing AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course describes, marking schemes, and even test concerns with AI without examining them. Students in turn use AI to generate responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing real learning," he lamented.

Students' point of views on use

Students, on the other hand, state AI has actually improved their learning experience by making academic materials more easy to understand and available.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has significantly helped her knowing by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI assisted me comprehend things more quickly, especially when handling complex topics," she discussed.

However, she remembered a circumstances when she used AI to send her job, just for her speaker to immediately recognize that it was generated by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a first-rate degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his exceptional grades to actively interesting by asking questions and concentrating on locations that lecturers stress in class, as they are typically reflected in exam questions.
"It's all about being present, focusing, and taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge shared by my coworkers," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, admits to sometimes copying straight from ChatGPT when dealing with numerous deadlines.
"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have numerous due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, many times the speakers don't get to check out through them, but AI has actually likewise helped me discover faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the service lies in AI literacy