In Nairobi, the rise of generative AI has dismantled a significant sector of the gig economy that specialized in writing academic papers for students in the US and UK. At its height, this industry employed at least 40,000 people in the Kenyan capital, with writers covering complex subjects like medicine, engineering, and computer science.
The impact became evident following the 2022 launch of ChatGPT, which led to a sharp decline in both order volumes and pricing. Previously, experienced writers like Teresios Bundi could earn between $40 and $70 per assignment. The downturn also affected other digital labor sectors in Kenya, including transcription, data annotation, and content moderation services.
Kenya had actively encouraged the growth of online gig work since 2016, supported by organizations such as Samasource. Currently, about 80 percent of the nation's workforce remains in the informal sector. While some workers have transitioned into roles as humanizers who refine AI-generated content to bypass plagiarism detectors, the broader labor market faces ongoing instability.
