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

Expert System (AI) is revolutionizing education while making discovering more accessible but also sparking debates on its effect.

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

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

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"I gave a project to my MBA students, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% sent the exact very same responses. These students did not even understand each other, but they all used the exact same AI tool to produce their reactions," he said.

He kept in mind that this pattern is common amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees but is especially concerning in part-time and range learning programs.

"AI is a severe challenge when it pertains to projects. Many students no longer believe critically-they simply browse the web, produce answers, and send," he included.

Surprisingly, some lecturers are likewise 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 important concerns about the role of AI in academic stability and student advancement.

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

As of December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent every day all over the world.

Decline of academic rigor

University lecturers are increasingly concerned about trainees sending AI-generated assignments without genuinely understanding the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his issues to Nairametrics about trainees progressively counting on ChatGPT, only to fight with answering basic questions when tested.

"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and send sleek assignments, however when asked standard concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing since education is about discovering, not just passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu mentioned that the increasing variety of top-notch graduates can not be entirely credited to AI however admitted that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A first-class student is a top-notch trainee, AI or not, but that doesn't suggest they don't cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, however it is making trainees dependent 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 very same practice.
"It's not simply students using AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, produce lesson notes, course outlines, marking schemes, and even examination questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn utilize AI to create answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine knowing," he regreted.

Students' viewpoints on use

Students, on the other hand, say AI has improved their learning experience by making academic products more understandable and accessible.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has considerably aided her knowing by breaking down complex terms and providing summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI helped me comprehend things more easily, particularly when handling intricate topics," she described.

However, shiapedia.1god.org she recalled a circumstances when she used AI to submit her project, only for her speaker to immediately acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad impact.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just 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 outstanding grades to actively appealing by asking questions and focusing on locations that lecturers emphasize in class, as they are frequently shown in test concerns.
"It's all about being present, focusing, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he said,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, systemcheck-wiki.de admits to sometimes copying straight from ChatGPT when facing several due dates.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have multiple deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the speakers do not get to review them, however AI has actually also assisted me find out faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the service lies in AI literacy