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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 however also triggering disputes on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their knowing experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines academic stability, particularly with lots of students not able to defend their tasks or provided works.

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

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"I gave an assignment 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, but they all utilized the exact same AI tool to produce their actions," he said.

He noted that this pattern is widespread amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is specifically concerning in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a serious difficulty when it comes to tasks. Many students no longer believe critically-they simply go online, generate answers, and send," 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 debate raises important questions about the role 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, only one nation had launched guidelines on generative AI since July 2023.

Since 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 academic rigor

University speakers are significantly 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 progressively relying on ChatGPT, only to struggle with answering basic concerns when checked.

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

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing number of superior graduates can not be completely credited to AI but admitted that even high-performing students utilize these tools.
"A first-class trainee is a superior trainee, AI or not, however that does not imply they do not cheat. The benefits of AI might be peripheral, however it is making students reliant and less analytical," he stated.

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

Students' perspectives on use

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

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has actually significantly helped her learning by breaking down complex terms and providing summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI helped me understand things more easily, specifically when handling complicated topics," she explained.

However, she recalled a circumstances when she utilized AI to send her task, just for her speaker to immediately acknowledge that it was created by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, strongly believes that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his outstanding grades to actively interesting by asking concerns and focusing on areas that lecturers stress in class, as they are typically reflected in test concerns.
"It's all about existing, focusing, and using the wealth of knowledge shared by my associates," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to periodically copying directly from ChatGPT when dealing with numerous deadlines.
"To be sincere, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, the majority of times the speakers don't get to check out through them, however AI has also helped me discover much faster."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts think the option depends on AI literacy