a culture of ethics is needed to address the ai challenge

South African tertiary education providers are taking heavy fire as students use generative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms to allegedly cheat their way through their degrees. By all accounts, those in positions of authority within these institutions are at a loss, as there is no clear strategy to address the situation definitively.

The South African tertiary education sector has consistently produced some of the most sought-after candidates in the world. South Africans take pride in their hard work and tenacity, placing them among the world's top students. However, an article by the Daily Maverick recently uncovered that tertiary institutions face increased levels of cheating as students take advantage of the unchecked growth of technology. MANCOSA points out that, while technology is becoming a significant issue within key institutions, academic leaders need to know their enemy and encourage students to use technology responsibly.

Duncan Park, MANCOSA Registrar, sympathises with tertiary education providers, pointing out they are in a challenging position with extraordinarily little recourse. They will face an uphill battle if they continue approaching the generative AI challenge with the same strategy. "As an exercise, I used Turnitin, an online tool used by most tertiary education providers to detect the use of generative AI in a piece of work. Turnitin determined that there was a 70% probability that a paragraph I wrote myself was generated by an AI tool. I then ran a different paragraph that AI generated through Turnitin, and it said that the writing was original. The inherent flaws in online systems to accurately predict what has been generated by AI and what has not mean that academic leaders cannot give students a zero for assignments that they suspect have been produced with the assistance of generative AI tools," says Park.

With technology expanding rather than abating, Park points out that tertiary institutions must invest significant time and resources to teach students how to use generative AI ethically and develop a culture of responsibility within their student body.

Reflecting on the current situation, Park acknowledges that distance-based institutions are more prone to the cheating problem than other institutions. The Daily Maverick article points out that tertiary education providers that interact with students in person have resorted to moving back towards requiring students to hand in handwritten assignments and take oral tests and exams. Further, institutions that were using tutorial classes as a block to do research for assignments are now using these classes as periods where students have to write out portions of their assignments and then hand them in to continue in the next tutorial class.

"This becomes difficult in a distance learning environment where we don't have direct access to our students and there is no guarantee that students will be attending classes during conventional hours, as they often have to balance work and family commitments," says Park who adds that MANCOSA is a technology focused institution that excited about the future growth of technology and the impact that it will have on society. "We need to start embracing technology and the positive impact that it can have on society rather than be wary of it," concludes Park.

Razack Uddin, Director: Teaching & Learning at MANOCSA, points out that MANCOSA has adopted a forward-thinking approach to prepare our academic community for an AI-enhanced future. "Our Institutional AI Framework, together with AI Guidelines to staff and students, provides clear guidance on the ethical use of AI across all institutional functions. For our faculty, we offer comprehensive professional development programmes that build AI literacy and innovative teaching strategies while maintaining rigorous academic standards. Students benefit from a dual-focused curriculum that develops technical AI skills and essential human capabilities such as critical thinking and ethical reasoning. Our continuous learning model ensures all members of our community remain at the forefront of educational innovation in this rapidly evolving digital landscape," says Uddin.

Many tertiary institutions are trying to address the AI challenge from a position of strength that has served them well in the past. However, the technology is an unconventional enemy in this instance and calls for adopting a different approach.

Both Park and Uddin have pointed out that the use of AI needs to increase so that students see it as a learning tool as opposed to a tool that can be used disingenuously.

MANCOSA recognises generative AI as a transformative educational tool rather than a threat to traditional learning."