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

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming education while making discovering more accessible however also stimulating debates on its effect.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines scholastic stability, menwiki.men particularly with lots of students not able to defend their projects or given works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed disappointment over the growing reliance 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 trainees did not even know each other, however they all utilized the exact same AI tool to generate their reactions," he stated.

He noted that this pattern prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students but is particularly concerning in part-time and range learning programs.

"AI is a serious obstacle when it concerns assignments. Many students no longer think critically-they simply go on the internet, create answers, and send," he added.

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 argument raises important questions about the function of AI in scholastic integrity and student development.

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

Decline of scholastic rigor

University speakers are significantly concerned about trainees submitting AI-generated assignments without truly understanding the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about trainees increasingly relying on ChatGPT, just to have problem with responding to basic concerns when evaluated.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit sleek assignments, however when asked fundamental concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing due to the fact that education has to do with finding out, not simply passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of top-notch graduates can not be completely credited to AI but admitted that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A first-class student is a top-notch student, AI or not, however that doesn't imply they do not cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, however it is making trainees reliant and less analytical," he said.

- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the same practice.
"It's not just students using AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course outlines, marking plans, and even test questions with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn use AI to create answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine knowing," he lamented.

Students' viewpoints on usage

Students, on the other hand, say AI has actually enhanced their knowing experience by making academic products more understandable and available.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has actually substantially helped her learning 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 explained.

However, she remembered an instance when she utilized AI to send her task, only for her speaker to instantly acknowledge that it was generated by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad impact.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a superior degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely believes that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his exceptional grades to actively engaging by asking concerns and concentrating on locations that lecturers highlight in class, as they are frequently reflected in test questions.
"It's all about existing, focusing, and using the wealth of knowledge shared by my coworkers," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to periodically copying directly from ChatGPT when dealing with multiple due dates.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the lecturers don't get to check out them, but AI has likewise helped me find out quicker."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts think the service lies in AI literacy