1 Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reinventing education while making finding out more available but likewise triggering disputes on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their learning experience, speakers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic stability, particularly with many trainees not able to safeguard their tasks or provided works.

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

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"I offered an assignment to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% sent the precise very same responses. These students did not even know each other, but they all utilized the same AI tool to generate their actions," he stated.

He kept in mind that this trend is widespread among both undergraduate and postgraduate students but is especially concerning in part-time and range knowing programs.

"AI is a major difficulty when it pertains to tasks. Many trainees no longer believe critically-they simply go online, create answers, and submit," he included.

Surprisingly, some lecturers are also implicated 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 trainee development.

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

Since December 2024, disgaeawiki.info ChatGPT had more than 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent out every day around the world.

Decline of academic rigor

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

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about trainees progressively depending on ChatGPT, only to deal with addressing standard questions when evaluated.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send refined tasks, however when asked basic concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating due to the fact that education is about discovering, not simply passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of first-rate graduates can not be entirely credited to AI but confessed that even high-performing trainees use these tools.
"A superior trainee is a first-rate trainee, AI or not, however that does not imply they don't cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, but it is making trainees reliant and less analytical," he said.

- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, classifieds.ocala-news.com from Ebonyi State University, raised a different concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not simply students utilizing AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course describes, marking schemes, and even test concerns with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn utilize AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating real learning," he regreted.

Students' viewpoints on use

Students, on the other hand, say AI has actually improved 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 substantially aided her knowing by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI helped me comprehend things more easily, specifically when handling intricate subjects," she explained.

However, she recalled an instance when she utilized AI to send her job, just for her speaker to instantly acknowledge that it was generated by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad result.

- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated with a first-class degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his impressive grades to actively appealing by asking questions and concentrating on locations that lecturers stress in class, as they are typically reflected in test concerns.
"It's all about being present, taking note, and using the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to sometimes copying directly from ChatGPT when dealing with numerous due dates.
"To be honest, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have several deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers do not get to check out them, but AI has actually likewise assisted me learn quicker."

Balancing AI's function in education

Experts think the service lies in AI literacy