On a chilly November evening in 2022, I lounged in my room at Moi University's Hostel B, enduring good-natured ribbing from friends about Arsenal's long-standing Premier League trophy drought. Amidst the banter, I caught wind of a newly launched AI tool called ChatGPT that was making waves on social media. Curiosity piqued, I decided to give it a try, and the experience was truly fascinating. I eagerly introduced ChatGPT to my close circle of friends, and their excitement mirrored my own as we marveled at how this novel technology effortlessly tackled complex questions. Since that day, our academic journey has been forever changed.
We've since relied on ChatGPT countless times to enhance our research and class projects. Finding research sources and materials has become remarkably easy. ChatGPT provides quick access to a wealth of information from diverse sources, helps generate ideas, assists in structuring research papers, and offers concise summaries of complex texts. The process of citing sources and references has become more efficient, with the AI suggesting relevant literature and formatting citations correctly.
However, as ChatGPT's popularity surged, some students realized its potential for less ethical uses. They devised ways to exploit the technology for cheating in exams, a practice that has since spread across universities.
At Moi University, it's now common to see lecturers catching students using ChatGPT on their phones during exams. Despite clear rules prohibiting phones in exam rooms, some students still manage to sneak them in. In a recent exam, despite measures to collect phones centrally upon entry, some students were still caught with devices.
This trend isn't unique to Moi University. Since ChatGPT's emergence, numerous generative AI models have proliferated, designed to produce content such as text, images, videos, and code based on their training data. AI tools like language models, automated answer generators, and sophisticated cheating software have become increasingly accessible and user-friendly.
Eunice*, a Second Year student at Kenyatta University, has witnessed her classmates successfully using AI to cheat in exams, even under lecturers' watchful eyes. She feels disheartened and demoralized, as these cheating students often achieve higher grades despite her commitment to academic integrity. "Nobody seems to care. It's becoming the new normal. Inavunja moyo sana (It's really discouraging)," she laments.
The real game-changer, however, has been the introduction of AI-enhanced text recognition apps. These tools allow students to scan and convert printed exam questions into digital text before instantly generating accurate answers. Mobile apps like Question AI enable students to effortlessly upload pictures of exam papers or capture them in real-time, providing immediate answers. In the time it takes for an invigilator to distribute question papers – usually five to ten minutes – some students can obtain all the answers using AI. By the time the exam officially begins, these students already have the answers ready to transcribe into their booklets, carefully avoiding detection.
The days of students flocking to libraries for last-minute cramming sessions or sneaking in handwritten cheat sheets, ‘mwakenya,’ are becoming a thing of the past. Now, all a student needs is a smartphone, a reliable internet connection, and perhaps a large jacket to conceal their activities. The result is an impressive list of well-performed units in their academic portal.
This widespread use of AI for cheating has raised significant concerns among educators and administrators. Institutions of higher learning are grappling with how to maintain academic integrity in an era of rapid technological advancement. Traditional methods of preventing cheating, such as strict invigilation and the threat of lengthy academic suspensions, are proving inadequate against these sophisticated AI-enabled tactics.
While AI tools like ChatGPT have undoubtedly revolutionized the way we access and process information, their misuse in academic settings poses a serious threat to the integrity of education. As a student who has benefited from AI's legitimate applications in research and learning, I find this trend deeply troubling. The ease with which some students are able to circumvent academic honesty policies not only undermines the value of education but also puts honest students at a disadvantage.
Universities and educational institutions must adapt quickly to this new reality. Ultimately, the onus is on us as students to uphold academic integrity. While AI can be an incredibly powerful tool for learning and research, its misuse for cheating goes against the very principles of education.
*Name changed to protect the speaker.
The writer is a Second Year Linguistics, Media, and Communication student at Moi University.
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This article was originally published in The Daily Nation on Monday, August 5th, 2024.
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