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

Expert System (AI) is changing education while making discovering more available but likewise triggering disputes on its impact.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their learning experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic integrity, especially with lots of students not able to protect their tasks or provided works.

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

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

He noted that this pattern prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is especially worrying in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a severe difficulty when it comes to assignments. Many students no longer think critically-they just browse the web, generate responses, and submit," he included.

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

This dispute raises vital questions about the function of AI in academic integrity and student development.

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

As of December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million individuals using the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent out every day worldwide.

Decline of scholastic rigor

University lecturers are increasingly concerned about trainees submitting AI-generated projects without truly comprehending the content.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about students increasingly depending on ChatGPT, only to deal with answering basic concerns when evaluated.

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and send polished assignments, but when asked standard concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing since education has to do with discovering, not simply passing courses," he said.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing number of top-notch graduates can not be totally credited to AI however admitted that even high-performing students utilize these tools.
"A first-class student is a first-class student, AI or not, but that does not imply they do not cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, however it is making students reliant and less analytical," he said.

- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various issue that some speakers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not simply students using AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, produce lesson notes, course lays out, marking schemes, and even examination questions with AI without examining them. Students in turn use AI to create answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine learning," he lamented.

Students' viewpoints on usage

Students, on the other hand, say AI has actually improved their learning experience by making scholastic materials more reasonable and accessible.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has significantly assisted her learning by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI helped me understand things more quickly, especially when dealing with complex topics," she described.

However, she recalled a circumstances when she utilized AI to send her job, just for her speaker to immediately that it was created by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a superior degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, strongly thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his exceptional grades to actively engaging by asking questions and concentrating on locations that speakers highlight in class, as they are typically reflected in test concerns.
"It's all about existing, taking note, and using the wealth of understanding shared by my coworkers," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to periodically copying straight from ChatGPT when facing multiple due dates.
"To be honest, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have multiple deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the speakers don't get to check out them, however AI has also helped me discover quicker."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts believe the option lies in AI literacy