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

Expert System (AI) is reinventing education while making finding out more available however also stimulating arguments on its impact.

While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their knowing experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines scholastic stability, particularly with many students not able to defend their tasks or offered works.

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

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"I gave a task to my MBA students, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% sent the specific same answers. These trainees did not even understand each other, however they all used the very same AI tool to create their actions," he stated.

He kept in mind that this pattern is common among both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is specifically concerning in part-time and distance learning programs.

"AI is a serious challenge when it pertains to projects. Many students no longer think critically-they simply browse the web, create answers, and send," he added.

Surprisingly, some lecturers are also accused of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both educators and students turn to AI for benefit rather than intellectual rigor.

This dispute raises important concerns about the role 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, only one nation had launched policies on generative AI as of July 2023.

Since December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million individuals utilizing the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent out every day worldwide.

Decline of academic rigor

University lecturers are increasingly concerned about students submitting AI-generated projects without genuinely understanding the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his issues to Nairametrics about students significantly relying on ChatGPT, just to fight with responding to fundamental concerns when checked.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit refined tasks, however when asked basic 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 variety of top-notch graduates can not be totally attributed to AI however admitted that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A first-class student is a superior trainee, AI or not, however that doesn't imply they don't cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, however it is making trainees dependent and less analytical," he stated.

- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various issue that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the very same practice.
"It's not just students using AI slackly. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, produce lesson notes, course lays out, marking plans, and even exam concerns with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn use AI to create answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing real knowing," he lamented.

Students' viewpoints on usage

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

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

However, she recalled a circumstances when she used AI to send her project, only 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 result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated with a first-rate 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 appealing by asking concerns and focusing on locations that speakers stress in class, as they are typically shown in exam concerns.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge shared by my colleagues," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to occasionally copying straight from ChatGPT when facing numerous deadlines.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have numerous due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, many times the speakers don't get to review them, however AI has actually likewise assisted me discover faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the service lies in AI literacy