Kenya's academic writing industry threatened as students opt for AI

A woman asking an AI chatbot pre-typed questions while the Artificial Intelligence website answers. [iStockphoto]

The rippling effects have resulted in a significant decrease in the number of tasks for which freelancers may bid or qualify.

Relying on freelancers

Over the last decade, students and scholars from developed countries such as Europe and the United States relied heavily on Kenyan freelancers to complete schoolwork ranging from simple essays to translations, transcribing, and even larger tasks such as PhD theses.

To date, the industry has had limited to no disruption in its operations, with the exception of the Covid epidemic.

According to interviews with dozens of freelancers in Kenya, AI technology has changed the way things are done in the academic writing field.

Mary, a Nakuru-based academic writer, said some of her regular clients are now choosing machine help and hiring them to proofread the final product.

"Previously, I conducted the research, wrote the draft, edited it, and produced a final polished copy, which would cost between Sh500 and Sh700 depending on the length of the assignment.

"However, some clients are now sending us AI-generated content to edit," Mary said.

She adds that the process of editing alone earns her around Sh300.

Lawrence Osoro, 30, who operates numerous online writing accounts that connect freelancers with customers, said the amount of tasks coming in has decreased, but the process has not.

"Not that business has come to a halt, but if you talk to freelancers, they will tell you the number of jobs on offer has reduced," he said.

Osoro also said his work has been easier since discovering ChatGPT. He said he lets the AI make a duplicate of the task at hand before editing it and filling in holes that the AI may have missed.

"I was chatting with one of my longtime clients, and they told me that one of the essays he was supposed to contact me to complete had already been generated on ChatGPT," he said.

Osoro is a law graduate who has never practised; instead, he acquired an interest in academic writing while a second-year student.

After working as a contract writer for three years, he decided to invest Sh40,000 on an academic writing account in 2019. Now he bids on writing assignments and employs additional writers to perform duties for a portion of the overall rate.

Of 50,000 students from around the world, 15.7% acknowledged cheating since 2014. [iStockphoto]

Foreign governments, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have previously expressed worry about the academic writing sector, fearing that it is lowering the quality of graduates.

This resulted in a crackdown on some of the websites that provided these services; nonetheless, freelancers contacted indicated that this had little impact on their companies.

Changing ways

Universities have attempted to adapt the way they assess students in response to the danger.

Increasingly students are being asked to orally present their work in front of a seminar group or to answer questions from lecturers.

Sometimes students are asked to submit study notes, early drafts, and work in progress. However, essay firms have thought of that. For an extra fee, notes and drafts are available too.

The ICT ministry in Kenya estimates about 500,000 youths in Kenya work in the online space. However, there is no breakdown of those doing academic writing.

Furthermore, the online writing industry is unregulated in Kenya and other countries. Plans to mainstream the business and collect taxes from freelancers have yet to be implemented.