AI in Education: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Combat Academic Malpractice in Higher Education

Cheating, plagiarism, biased grading and other academic malpractices remain a chronic problem in higher education globally. As Artificial intelligence (AI) trained to generate text and answer questions becomess more sophisticated, higher institutes of education are taking more interest in adopting technological solutions to ensure academic integrity. The study examines how AI can be used to prevent academic misconduct and promote fairness in assessment and grading, and how education institutions, now, in the face of new challenges being presented with the exploitation of generative AI tools, such as GPT-4 in the context of examinations and assessment, adjusts to the emerging situation. This paper explores the critical complexities and assesses current AI applications in education, their effectiveness at combatting malpractices and the ethical dilemmas surrounding the integration of AI in educational environments. The research shows that while AI technologies can assist in identifying cheating and plagiarism effectively, ensure fair and equitable assessments and strengthen academic integrity, there exists an urgent need for dealing with issues related to privacy, reliance on technology and abuse of AI in examination.