powershare

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

Expert System (AI) is reinventing education while making finding out more accessible but likewise triggering debates on its effect.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their knowing experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic stability, especially with numerous trainees not able to safeguard their assignments or offered works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed aggravation over the growing reliance on AI-generated actions amongst students stating a recent experience he had.

RelatedStories

Avoid sharing personal information that can recognize you with AI tools- Expert warns

Chinese AI app DeepSeek sparks international tech selloff, challenges U.S. AI dominance

"I provided an assignment to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% submitted the specific same responses. These trainees did not even know each other, but they all utilized the very same AI tool to create their reactions," he said.

He noted that this trend prevails among both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is specifically concerning in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a major difficulty when it concerns projects. Many students no longer think critically-they just go online, generate responses, and submit," he included.

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

This debate raises crucial questions about the function of AI in scholastic stability and student development.

According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million regular monthly active users in January 2023, only one country had actually released regulations on generative AI since July 2023.

Since December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million individuals using the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent every day around the world.

Decline of scholastic rigor

University speakers are significantly worried about trainees submitting AI-generated tasks without genuinely understanding the content.

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

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit refined projects, however when asked standard questions, they go blank. It's frustrating since education has to do with discovering, not simply passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of superior graduates can not be completely credited to AI however admitted that even use these tools.
"A first-rate trainee is a top-notch student, AI or not, however that doesn't mean they do not cheat. The benefits of AI might be peripheral, however it is making trainees reliant and less analytical," he stated.

- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the same practice.
"It's not simply students utilizing AI slackly. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course outlines, marking plans, and even exam questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn use AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine knowing," he lamented.

Students' perspectives on usage

Students, on the other hand, state AI has enhanced their knowing experience by making academic products more easy to understand and accessible.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has actually significantly helped her knowing by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI helped me understand things more quickly, specifically when dealing with intricate topics," she discussed.

However, she remembered an instance when she used AI to send her project, just for her lecturer to immediately recognize that it was generated by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad impact.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a first-class degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, strongly thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his impressive grades to actively appealing by asking concerns and focusing on areas that speakers stress in class, as they are often reflected in test questions.
"It's everything about being present, paying attention, and using the wealth of knowledge shared by my associates," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, admits to sometimes copying directly from ChatGPT when dealing with several due dates.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have numerous deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, most times the speakers don't get to check out them, but AI has also helped me find out quicker."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts believe the solution depends on AI literacy