AI Wipes Out Kenya's Essay-Writing Gig Work Industry
ChatGPT's release in late 2022 rapidly destroyed Kenya's essay-writing gig industry, with thousands of writers experiencing income collapse from $900–$1,200 monthly to $500–$800 as students switched to using AI for academic papers. The displacement illustrates the fragility of text-based outsourced work when AI provides cheaper alternatives.
What happened
ChatGPT, released by OpenAI on November 30, 2022, caused rapid collapse of Kenya's essay-writing gig industry within two years. Thousands of Kenyan writers who had provided contract cheating services to overseas university students found their work drying up as students switched to using AI for the same task.
One Kenyan ghostwriter, Teresios Bundi, wrote over 2,500 essays over 12 years for Western students before the industry shrank to almost nothing. Writers shifted to other gig work including transcription, content moderation on Facebook and other platforms, but those opportunities also withered.
Reported impact
Ghostwriter pay collapsed dramatically. One writer's monthly income fell from $900–$1,200 in 2022 to $500–$800 after generative AI tools spread. The loss of income affected rent, food and family support for affected workers.
About 70% of Kenya's online freelancers offered writing and translation services in 2023, with the country a major hub for contract cheating. The rapid displacement left thousands of gig workers searching for alternative employment.
Index analysis
The essay-writing business was precarious work serving academic dishonesty, but it represented a real livelihood for well-educated Kenyan youths in a country with patchy formal employment. Kenya has a large English-speaking graduate population and a history of government promotion of online work as a youth employment route.
The collapse illustrates how vulnerable text-based outsourced digital work is when AI can produce adequate substitutes quickly and cheaply, especially when buyers are distant and workers lack protection.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.