Faculty admonished to adopt new ways of setting assignments to avoid AI Generated Answers

Panelists at a discussion forum of the just-ended E-Learning Ghana Conference have admonished instructors and educationists to adopt new techniques of setting assignments so as to prevent the use of AI models in generating answers to their tests.

Dr. Cyril D. Boateng, who was a panelist on the forum highlighted the deficiency of Artificial Intelligence models in generating answers to questions centered on local context. He stated that instructors should incorporate scenarios, examples or case studies peculiar only to the Ghanaian or African context in preparing their tests or assignments. This, he says, ensures that the student has no choice but to apply the principles taught in class and work on his own since the online AI tools cannot help them.

Dr. Linda Amoako Banning was emphatic that AI tools can spell doom for academia. She said that “it rubbishes whatever assignment you give to students.” She, however, recognized the importance of identifying counter platforms that can detect the use of AI in generating test results. Participants then agreed that to curb the insidious issue of originality and students’ over-reliance on AI chatbots to do their assignments for them, students must be engaged and sensitized on how to use the new technology so that it does not compromise their ability to grasp the principles and theories being taught them. Students must, therefore, see AI chatbots as assistive technologies and nothing else.

Another important intervention proposed by panelists was policy both on the national and institutional level on the use of AI tools in academic work. Dr. Seth Ahene mentioned that AI tools can be particularly disruptive when it comes to deepfakes. Deepfakes are a situation where a malicious user of an AI tool uses the tool to create a video or picture of a celebrity or another person doing something awkward or in a different setting that can create problems for such a person. This has privacy and copyright questions that must be answered through policy.

The discussion took place at the closing session of the E-Learning Ghana Conference which was held on the 7th of July, 2023. The session was moderated by Dr. Akyana Britwum who elicited fantastic responses and ideas from participants. The debate on this issue continues to linger on even as the conference has come to an end.

Published:11th July 2023 Source: KNUST E-Learning Centre