AI Academic Fraud Rocks Universities

(MENAFN- The Post) Staff Reporter

MASERU – UNIVERSITIES in Lesotho say they are grappling with cases of academic fraud as students resort to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for their coursework, thepost heard this week.

The universities are concerned that such cases of academic dishonesty will result in assessors not able to assess if the students have attained the required knowledge or they just copy and paste their answers or paraphrase answers already prepared for them by AI.

'Makhenene Harris, the spokesperson for Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, told thepost on Tuesday that some students have been caught cheating through the use of AI.

“The cases were taken for disciplinary proceedings so that the students could defend themselves,” Harris said.
“They were found guilty of wrongly using Artificial Intelligence,” she said.

“The university has not banned the use of AI but misusing it is highly prohibited.”

However, Harris could not reveal the extent to which this is a problem except saying“the misuse of AI to cheat is a serious concern”.

She said the university has taken measures to help students with the correct use of AI so that they do not use it to cheat during exams.

“They are helped on how to use AI to enhance learning not use AI for copying,” she said.

The National University of Lesotho (NUL) Director – Communications & Marketing, 'Mamosa Moteetee, said they noticed that some students were using AI as far back as 2019 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At that time, she said, they were giving students assignments to pursue while at home and they picked up that their work was so alike that they noticed that something was seriously wrong.

“That was when the lecturers noticed that something was amiss,” Moteetee said.

She said the students who were caught were taken for disciplinary hearings where some were asked to repeat their courses.

To address the problem, they installed a software that detects if the students have used AI.

“If this is not controlled, it could have a bad image on our institution,” Moteetee said.

The main concern is that if not checked, this can lead to a situation where universities are churning out half-baked graduates to the labour market where they will be found wanting.

This can seriously damage the universities' reputations.

In June this year, an investigation by the United Kingdom's Guardian newspaper found almost 7 000 proven cases of academic cheating – and experts said these cases were the tip of an iceberg.

The Guardian reported that a survey of academic integrity violations found the cases of cheating using AI tools in 2023-24 were equivalent to 5.1 for every 1 000 students.

“That was up from 1.6 cases per 1 000 in 2022-23,” it reported.

Pheta Makhele, a tech social impact entrepreneur and an AI Evangelist deeply engaged in the technological advancement of Africa, said“students can effectively use AI tools in their learning processes, provided this use is co-intelligent-with strict oversight and supported by a solid AI framework”.

Makhele said research shows that AI, when integrated responsibly, can enhance learning by fostering critical thinking, creativity, and complex problem solving, rather than merely serving as a shortcut for tasks.

“Successful AI adoption in education requires clear institutional frameworks that set guidelines for ethical AI use, uphold academic integrity and provide training for both students and educators on AI literacy,” Makhele said.

“Oversight mechanisms are crucial to prevent over-reliance or misuse, ensuring that AI becomes an empowering tool rather than a crutch, thus promoting responsible human-AI collaboration in knowledge creation,” he said.

He said ultimately, the emphasis should be on cultivating students' ability to critically engage with AI outputs, verify information and maintain their intellectual autonomy within a supported environment that balances innovation with rigorous academic standards.

Staff Reporter

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