In 2023, some candidates took the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has revealed how it found out that they were using artificial intelligence (AI) as a cheating method.
When WAEC released its provisional results on Monday, it revealed cases of malpractice and took action, including rescinding the results of students who were implicated and withholding results.
In response to questions about how the examination body discovered these violations—especially the use of AI—WAEC’s Headof Public Affairs, John Kapi, offered some explanations in an interview that aired on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News.
He clarified that they used unusual responses to identify candidates who depended on AI-generated responses. One candidate, for example, got a response from the AI that said, “I don’t know what the term you used,” and they wrote the exact same thing in the answer booklet. Another applicant ran into a comparable circumstance, typing, ‘I cannot detect the term you have used.’ According to Kapi, these incidents were unmistakable signs that AI was being used.
He admitted that cheating techniques were changing and related stories of previous tests that included cell phones, pictures, and pre-worked answer sheets. But the emergence of AI as a means of deception presents a fresh and formidable obstacle. In order to tackle this issue, WAEC is organizing joint initiatives with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to implement strict guidelines regarding the use of mobile phones in second-cycle educational institutions.
“We’ve monitored all the rogue websites that were publishing the questions we had put out there. Our investigations and some reports that were received from national security indicated that all the questions that were found online were put out there after the commencement of the examination. The suspicion is that these questions were out there after the supervisors or invigilators or even candidates had taken snapshots and put them out there seeking assistance,” citinewsroom.com quotes Kapi as saying.
Regarding ongoing investigations into the use of cellphones, artificial intelligence, or intercepted questions, Kapi stated that his team is actively investigating the situation and that those who may have committed wrongdoing would be invited to a fair trial.
The partnership with the GES seeks to impose more stringent regulations and deter the use of cutting-edge technologies to obtain unfair advantages in academic evaluations.
