As Americans grapple with what artificial intelligence could mean for the economy, The New York Times examined one of the technology’s early casualties: a Kenyan industry built on writing college essays for cheating Western students.
The outlet published a piece over the weekend describing how third-party essay writing became a thriving business in Kenya, employing an estimated 40,000 people in Nairobi at its peak.
Teresios Bundi began writing essays on topics he’d never heard of, earning $7 for three hours’ work on his first assignment. He eventually opened his own operation, renting a house that he filled with desks, high-speed internet, and mattresses for the students he hired to write between classes.
“That was a lifeline for me. I needed the money,” he said of his first gig.
As demand increased, so did the pay. Bundi charged between $40 and $70 per paper and sometimes banged out up to three per day. Bundi said the work paid him at least “five times” what he could have earned in public health, a subject in which he held a college degree.
The Times described how the social status of the essay writers became noticeable, noting that they “drove new Subarus, carried the latest smartphones, and booked exclusive tables at clubs.”
Then ChatGPT debuted in 2022 and everything changed. Suddenly, would-be cheaters had a cheaper, faster, easier way to get their papers written, and men like Bundi saw themselves out of work. He issued a warning for everyone about the oncoming threat of AI in other industries.
“A.I. is coming for bankers, for accountants, it’s coming for engineers, and A.I. will come for architects,” he told the outlet. “It’s coming for everybody.”
This all led to Kenyans being forced to return to work that doesn’t pay as well, if they find work at all.
“Some have gone back to the villages,” Alex Munyua, a former essay writer, said. “There are those that tried other sectors, but they were frustrated because they couldn’t get formal jobs.”
Reactions online mostly focused on how bizarre the article’s framing was, with most sympathy for the Kenyans who could no longer help students cheat.
“The New York Times should be razed. ‘Here’s is [sic] an article on how the admirable – checks notes – essay writing cheating business of Africa – has been disrupted by evil AI.’ These a**holes should have been bullied more in high school,” one commenter wrote.
“We’ve reached the point where ‘AI destroyed jobs that only existed because students were cheating’ is treated as a tragedy,” another commenter said.
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