Di west african examinations council (Waec) for ghana don withhold di senior school certificate exam results of students from 235 schools sake of “dem use answers wey artificial intelligence (AI) don generate during di exam.”
Di kontri exam body say dis na part of plenti irregularities dem find as dem dey mark di papers di students write for August dis year.
Apart from di AI answers, Waec say dem also don cancel subject results of 3,647 candidates wey carry foreign material like prepared notes and text books for di exam hall.
One statement by di exam body explain say dem cancel “di entire results of anoda 839 candidates wey carry mobile phone enter exam hall.”
Tok tok pesin for di council, John Kapi say dem dey continue investigation into subject result of 4,280 candidates and di entire result of 1,005 students for oda suspected offence.
But wetin dey give di exam body headache, na di new mata wey students don dey use AI take answer question for di exam hall.
How WAEC take know say na AI help some of di candidates?
Kapi explain for one interview say di pipo dem mark di scripts find answers wey AI tools don generate.
“Some candidates write for dia answer booklet say ‘I no make familiar wit di term you don use.”
Odas write say “I no fit detect di term you don use” for booklet.
Im dey show say na mobile devices dem take go exam hall wia dem type some of di questions.
“Dis run through some of di answers di candidates provide, na so we sabi say na AI answers dem write,” John Kapi tok.
Waec say dis be di first time dem find dis kind tin for dia exam.
Na so “we wan collaborate wit di education service about di strict regulation of di use of mobile phones for second cycle institutions.”
Wetin go happun to di candidates of di 235 schools wey use AI for di exam
Waec say di reason dem don withhold di results for dis pipo be say dem still dey do more investigation.
Di council say dem go invite all di affected candidates make dem come defend dia self.
“We go put it to dem say dis be wetin we find from di investigation wia dem for explain how e happun.”
Waec say dem go use SMS and oda means to contact di candidates, or dem go publish dia names for newspaper so dem go come defend dia self.
“Based on wetin dem go tok, one committee together wit di examiners go determine if dem go release di results or dem for cancel dem,” Waec explain.
In di past, some candidates afta dem announce say dem hold dia results, never show up to answer to di queries, but di exam body dey hope say dis time di students go respond quickly.
Oda tins wey dey worry WAEC about di exams
448,674 candidates don write di exam dis year. Di number be 5.8% higher dan di 422,883 pipo wey write am for 2022.
Di general performance for di core subjects like maths, english, integrated science and social studies don improve from di 2022 result.
Subject A1 -C6 2021 2022 2023
English 54.1% 60.4% 73.1%
Maths 54% 61.4% 62.2%
Science 65.7% 62.5% 66.8%
Social studies 66% 71.5% 76.8%
Despite say di performance improve, oda tins dey worry di exam body.
Di rate of malpractice don dey bash WAEC.
Also di level wey some of di invigilators, examiners and teachers don dey collude wit schools to cheat, dey rise.
In di past, di exam body say dem dey report some of dia staff to di police for prosecution.
Dem also find say some “rogue websites don dey publish some of di exam questions.”
Waec tok tok pesin, John Kapi explain say dis year, national security don find say dis websites publish di questions at di time di exam dey go on.
“We suspect say dis sites publish di questions afta invigilators or even di candidates take snapshots for di hall wey dem send give oda pipo say make dem answer give dem,” oga Kapi tok.
WAEC fit prosecute pipo wey dey engage for exam malpractice and offence?
For many years now, Waec don dey raise wahala about how pipo dey join hands dey cheat for di exam, especially di supervisors, invigilators and oda staff of di exam body.
Even though di national security dey help wit gathering intelligence, prosecution no dey happun often.
Sometimes, WAEC dey sack some of dia staff wey dey engage in dis kasala.
Na so for 2019, dem tok say dem don start one process wey go allow WAEC begin to prosecute offenders.
Oga for legal affairs for di council Rev Victor Brew, explain say “we still dey engage di attorney general office on how we go do am.”
“If we finally get di green-light to prosecute, offenders go be processed for court by staff of WAEC. We go get our own prosecutors too, wey go do di job,” oga Brew tok.
But four years afta, WAEC still dey complain about malpractice wey dey affect dia exam.
Some sabi pesin for di education sector say unless dem start dey jail pipo for some of dis offense, tins never go change.
E go simply be mata of “same issues, only na different year.”
Wetin be Artificial Intellligence
Artificial intelligence na wen dem program computer to act as robot wey go dey do work wey human suppose dey do.
E don tey wey Artificial Intelligence Technology (AI) don dey exist.
AI dey use machine wey dem don program and e include speech recognition, language processing, ChatGPT and odas.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology chatbots dey designed to answer questions and find information. ChatGPT na di best-known example.
ChatGPT na one of di popular AI tool wey pipo dey use generate content online. Artificial intelligence research lab, OpenAI say GPT-4 wey dem launch dey more creative, less likely to make up facts and less biased dan di one wey dey before, dat na ChatGPT.
Millions of pipo don dey use ChatGPT since dem bin launch am for November 2022. ChatGPT dey answer questions using natural human-like language, and e fit also mimic oda writing styles like songwriters and authors, using internet.
Di heads of OpenAI and Google Deepmind bin sama warning bifor say Artificial intelligence fit lead to di extinction of humanity.
