A Nigerian UK-registered dietician, Aiwanehi Aigbokhaevbo, has been removed from the professional register after using ChatGPT to provide “textbook” answers during a remote NHS job interview while she was in Nigeria.
The incident occurred in March 2024 during a video call for an oncology dietician role at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, UK. The interview was conducted via Microsoft Teams due to her location in Nigeria.
During the session, Aigbokhaevbo reportedly asked the panel to repeat clinical questions multiple times and deliberately repeated the questions back, seemingly to buy time before providing her answers. The panel noted that her responses were highly fluent, overly detailed, and appeared to come directly from a textbook, containing advanced medical terminology beyond what was expected for the role.
“The answers she provided were as if from a textbook, indicating specialist knowledge and experience of an advanced level,” the tribunal panel said. Observers also highlighted her eyes moving side to side, suggesting she was reading from a screen, and concluded that she was inputting questions into AI to generate her responses.
Health Worker Faces 18-Month Suspension
Following the interview, Aigbokhaevbo was asked to complete a 45-minute case study. The panel found the work unusually detailed and perfect, concluding it had also likely been prepared using AI.
At the tribunal hearing, Aigbokhaevbo denied using AI, claiming her repetition of questions was a reflex to ensure understanding. She explained her glances away from the screen as checking her internet connection and insisted she showed no hesitancy during the interview, denying any wrongdoing.
Despite her defence, the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service found inconsistencies in her responses and concluded that AI had been used in both the interview and the case study. The panel noted her lack of remorse and insight, warning that her actions undermined the integrity of the recruitment process and could have jeopardised 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.
Consequently, the panel ruled that Aigbokhaevbo’s fitness to practise was impaired and ordered her removal from the UK dietician register. An interim suspension order of 18 months will apply during which she has the right to appeal the decision.
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