AI in Higher Education: IRIS and Turnitin Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

The emergence of advanced educational technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionised learning and teaching methods. For example, at the University of South Africa (UNISA), IRIS is used for exam invigilation. This tool provides educators assurance of assessment integrity during online and remote assessment. It monitors students’ movement during the exam by recording a video of their face, audio, and taking screenshots of their computer screens at regular intervals and reports any alleged misconduct. However, IRIS often does not detect, where AI such as ChatGPT was used to generate answers. Furthermore, the university policies currently allow the use of Grammarly and Quillbot apps, which are increasingly incorporating AI features. These apps generate real time writing suggestions and rephrasing information from the internet to prevent any plagiarism. In addition, the University uses Turnitin's AI detection software that gives false positives if the student has written well in the passive voice. Considering that apps constantly evolve, the university needs to regularly check and mandate their use based on the latest features of the app. ChatGPT is amongst the latest AI writing apps, it enables students to easily access pre-written content without actively engaging in critical thinking and learning, potentially leading to widespread plagiarism, which poses a threat to education. In this paper, we present a concise overview of the use of IRIS and Turnitin invigilation and detection tools for online assessments. In an action study, the co-authors reflect on the implications of the use of these AI apps on the integrity and validity of the assessments. Directions for further research are suggested.