A Nigerian health worker, Aiwanehi Aigbokhaevbo, has lost her UK licence after she was found to have used ChatGPT to deliver “textbook” answers during a remote NHS job interview conducted while she was in Nigeria.
She, a UK-registered dietician, was said to have relied on AI to respond to questions during a video interview for an oncology dietician role at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in March 2024.
DailyMail reported on Thursday that the interview was conducted via Microsoft Teams due to her location in Nigeria.
During the session, she repeatedly asked the panel to restate clinical questions and echoed them before answering, a move the panel believed was to gain time.
The panel noted that her responses were fluent, highly detailed, and resembled textbook explanations, including the use of advanced medical terms beyond what was expected for the position.
“The answers she provided were as if from a textbook, indicating specialist knowledge and experience of an advanced level,” the tribunal panel said.
They also observed that her eyes moved from side to side, suggesting she was reading from a screen, and concluded that she was inputting questions into an AI tool to generate responses.
After the interview, she was asked to complete a 45-minute case study. The panel said the submission appeared to have been prepared using AI, citing the level of detail and near-perfect responses.
At the tribunal hearing, Aigbokhaevbo denied using AI and explained that repeating questions was her way of ensuring she understood them properly.
She also said her glances away from the screen were due to checking her internet connection and maintained that she did not hesitate during the interview or engage in any misconduct.
However, the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service found her explanations inconsistent and concluded that she had used AI in both the interview and the case study.
The panel pointed to her lack of remorse and insight, adding that her actions undermined the recruitment process and could have affected patient care.
“Given the attitudinal nature of her misconduct, and the absence of any evidence of remorse, insight, or remediation, the Panel considered that there was a significant risk of repetition,” the tribunal said.
The tribunal ruled that Miss Aigbokhaevbo’s fitness to practise is impaired and directed that she be removed from the UK dietician register.
An interim suspension order lasting 18 months will remain in place, during which she may appeal the decision.
