40% of students’ essays show signs of AI use – Report
A report by judges of the UBA Foundation National Essay Competition reveals that an estimated 35-40% of entries showed signs of AI-generated content. Read More: https://punchng.com/40-of-students-essays-show-signs-of-ai-use-report/
A recent report from the 2026 United Bank for Africa Foundation National Essay Competition found that between 35 and 40 percent of the over 12,000 submissions displayed characteristics reminiscent of AI-generated content. The panel of judges comprised English professors from four Nigerian universities, and they identified features such as overly polished American English, repetitive transitional phrases, generic solutions, lack of personal experiences, and AI-style disclaimers in the essays.
The report cited phrases like "In today's rapidly evolving world" and "Delve into" as indicators of AI usage. The judges expressed concern over the similarities among submissions, noting that many essays contained identical introductory paragraphs, definitions, and conclusions, which suggested the circulation of common prompts, tutorial center handouts, or WhatsApp templates.
This development undermines the competition's aim of promoting originality and critical thinking. As a result, the judges recommended mandatory AI-detection and plagiarism screening, clearer essay guidelines, teacher briefing sessions, and measures to prevent multiple submissions in future editions.
Written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
