AI: Opportunity or Threat to Kenyan Writers?

One minute, tunaclose deals left and right pale Upwork and other platforms and then boom!

This thing that can spit out entire articles and essays in seconds hits the market, and now everyone’s clutching their pearls, wondering, “Is it going to replace us?”

Over 2 years down the line, many of us are still concerned, and rightly so — AI’s capabilities are improving at a breakneck speed.

So, where do we stand? Are we becoming obsolete?

Here are my two cents:

To be honest, the academic writing industry has taken a hit from AI.

However, this isn’t to say that industry imekufa. It’s just that demand imeenda chini kidogo.

Simple: AI made it easier for foreign students to handle their coursework, so a large number of them stopped outsourcing.

Although universities are using AI checkers on assignments, they can’t detect when tasks with objective answers, like math problems, zimefanywa na AI.

I mean, 1+1=2 regardless of whether umetumia AI to compute it or not.

Don’t get me wrong. Many students still outsource tasks with objective answers for various reasons— for instance, some simply don’t have the time to do it, even with the help of AI.

It’s just that the number is slightly smaller now.

These will keep the industry alive for the foreseeable future, in my opinion.

AI checkers zinashika AI-generated text with a reliable level of accuracy. Some can even detect AI-generated code, so IT and computer science students aren’t exactly safe.

And since a lot of universities punish AI use severely, students are hesitant to use it for that kind of coursework, so wanaoutsource.

So, while has replaced some Kenyan academic writers, sioni industry ikikufa completely any time soon.

AI checkers will likely get better, which will have more students outsourcing their coursework.

Sure, kuna means za kubypass AI checkers, but they involve so much work that it’s better to do everything from scratch – not to mention they aren’t that reliable.

The only way industry itakufa kabisa is if foreign universities permit AI use in coursework, which is unlikely to happen because it defeats the whole purpose of going to school.

I mean, if students are allowed to use AI in coursework, they won’t be learning much, will they?

For the sake of this discussion, we’ll use the term content writer as an umbrella term for people who craft text for marketing purposes, like web copy, ad copy, blog posts, articles, email copy, social media copy, scripts for video sales letters (VSLs), and so on.

Sounds good? Alright. Let’s carry on.

Content writers — at least good ones — are far from being replaced by AI. However, they, too, did take a hit time AI ilitokea.

When Chat GPT and other large language models first came out, many believed content writers tuko on the chopping block, especially since Google wasn’t penalizing AI-generated content— it still doesn’t according to current search guidelines. It wasn’t just a belief.

A lot of agencies zilifuta content writers, turning to AI for content creation. I actually lost a client for the same reason in that period.

But when the hype died down, employers quickly realized that AI is far from being able to replace good writers.

Slowly but surely, demand ya content writers imerudi. In fact, employers have resurfaced with “no AI” policies.

Why the sudden change of heart? Two reasons:

Content writing is much more than just churning out blocks of text.

Content writers ucombine several skills — like their unique experiences, industry knowledge, understanding of the target audience, and ability to leverage brand identity — to create narratives that truly resonate with readers on an emotional level to drive action.

AI can’t do this. Though inaeza generate text for straightforward scenarios, no amount of prompting can give it the finesse, empathy, and deep strategic knowledge required to truly connect with readers and get them to buy a product or take any other action a brand needs them to.

Plus…

Yep, 50% of consumers are turned off by AI-generated ads. It’s not just ads.

There’s a growing body of research indicating that using AI to write blog posts, product descriptions, marketing emails, and other types of copy makes consumers lose trust in a brand and decreases their likelihood to buy.

Just search “ is AI copy a turnoff for consumers” and see for yourself.

This trend is part of the reason employers are turning back to good old human content writers.

Ata wenye wanatumia AI wanatry their best to make it sound human — I’ve actually been hired to “humanize” AI-generated web content, though it was a short-lived project.

Resourceful content writers are leveraging AI to optimize their productivity. Although many employers have resurfaced with no-AI policies, that doesn’t mean you can’t use this handy tool to:

• Create rough drafts

• Perform preliminary research

• Beat writers block

• Speed up the editing process

Similarly, academic writers wanatumia AI tools for citations, research, data analysis and visualization, and proofreading.

AI is also a time-saver when used to summarize research from multiple sources.

Ka ushai fanya academic writing, unajua how time-consuming it can be kupitia research papers, journals, and other kinds of formal writing when doing research. These things can be tens of pages long!

So, while you’ll ultimately do the final writing, you can still streamline your work with AI.

Just make sure you don’t copy-paste any AI text unless the client doesn’t mind.

To wrap up, we’re still very much in the game. The way I see it, the slight decrease in demand for content writing services was fueled by the initial hype around AI, which is slowly dying off.

Similarly, academic writers watabaki kwa game because universities aren’t accepting AI use in coursework any time soon.

So AI isn’t a threat; it’s a tool that’s making our work easier rather than replacing us.

If anything, you’re more likely to be replaced by a writer who understands how to leverage AI to deliver faster than AI itself.

What do you think?

Article written by Cyrus Kioko.

Let’s hear your thoughts in the comment section.