The National Testing Agency (NTA) is currently embroiled in a major controversy, facing severe allegations of extensively using artificial intelligence (AI) in the creation and translation of UGC-NET examination papers. This alleged misuse has led to widespread complaints and the subsequent cancellation of examinations in English, Commerce, and Sociology.
Errors Prompt Cancellations and Fresh Exams
Following a delay of nearly six weeks and numerous grievances, the NTA has been compelled to order fresh examinations for the affected subjects. Subject experts and former NTA officials have pointed to a lack of adequate human review as the root cause of the errors observed in the cancelled tests.
While the NTA Director General, Abhishek Singh, has publicly denied the use of generative AI for the disputed papers, he has not provided a clear explanation for how the significant errors bypassed human review processes that he claims were in place after the papers were set.
Specific Issues Across Subjects
- Sociology: Candidates reported numerous issues, including misspelt names of prominent scholars like George Ritzer, Talcott Parsons, and GS Ghurye. The paper also featured unclear terminology, poor translations, and questions that fell outside the prescribed syllabus.
- English: This paper drew criticism for large-scale repetition, with approximately 67 out of 150 questions reportedly appearing verbatim from previous UGC-NET examinations.
- Commerce: Similar to the English paper, commerce candidates noted repeated questions on core topics such as taxation, break-even analysis, capital structure, and services marketing.
Concerns Over Automation in High-Stakes Exams
The allegations have ignited serious concerns within the education sector regarding the increasing automation in preparing high-stakes national examinations. Questions are being raised about the rigor of academic review processes and whether proper expert oversight was conducted. A senior source within the education ministry indicated that initial meetings with NTA officers revealed that answer keys could not be declared because the papers were designed in an "ad hoc" manner, further fueling doubts about the lack of expert involvement.
Despite the NTA's denial of generative AI use, the undeniable presence of repeated questions and fundamental errors points to significant flaws in the paper-setting mechanism. The education ministry reportedly supported the cancellation of the three papers, pushing for fresh examinations, which the NTA finally implemented after a considerable delay.