40% of students’ essays show signs of AI use – Report

Résumé détaillé

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:…

An estimated 35 to 40 per cent of entries submitted for the 2026 United Bank for Africa Foundation National Essay Competition displayed characteristics associated with artificial intelligence-generated content.

This was contained in the judges’ report on the 2026 UBA Foundation National Essay Competition, obtained by The PUNCH.

The panel of judges who assessed the over 12,000 essay entries and produced the report comprised professors of English from four Nigerian universities.

The authors of the report are Prof Ini Uko (University of Uyo), Prof Asabe Kabir (Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto), Prof Emmanuel Omobowale (University of Ibadan) and Prof Samuel Onuigbo (University of Nigeria, Nsukka).

The judges, in their report on the competition, said several essays bore patterns, vocabulary and synthetic structures associated with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini.

They identified overly polished American English, repetitive transitional phrases, generic solutions unrelated to Nigeria’s realities, lack of personal experiences and local examples, and AI-style disclaimers as some of the features that raised concerns.

The report read, “A major and alarming concern noted during the assessment was that many of the essays were generated by AI.

“An estimated 35-40% of the scripts displayed the characteristic pattern, vocabulary, and synthetic structure associated with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and other large language models.”

The judges said the use of AI was noticeable in the submissions, citing phrases such as “In today’s rapidly evolving world” and “Delve into”.

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