The booming but contentious academic writing market is experiencing stiff competition from AI technologies, and freelancers are reporting a drop in earnings and work opportunities.
Only four months after its launch, the AI has proven to be a worthy competitor and is now a major source of destabilisation.
Late last year, a company named OpenAI developed ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot technology that swiftly surpassed 100 million users.
The tool has been hailed for its capacity to convincingly replicate human connection. It can also do jobs in the same way that a human would, if not better.
Microsoft included the technique into its Bing search engine, as well as Neeva and DuckDuckGo. With the correct instructions and prompts, a student may utilise it to write a quality essay that not only passes a plagiarism test but also has a human touch to it.
Students are said to have quickly adopted the technology in order to finish coursework and other activities. The technology has mostly been welcomed, but it has also been met with some scepticism.
Currently, ChatGPT is effectively prohibited by the governments and ruling parties of seven countries. Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Syria, and Italy are among those on the list.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
AI refers to the technology of feeding data to a computer programme designed to learn and recognise patterns in the data given.
AI theory has existed since the late 1950s, but computer power and technique have only lately improved to the point where they can be used on a large scale.
ChatGPT is unquestionably one of the most significant advances in the field of artificial intelligence. Some students at local universities in Kenya have testified to using Chat GPT to generate their assignments.
In January 2023, the online learning platform Study polled over 1,000 American students and more than 100 educators. More than 89 per cent of students claimed they have utilised ChatGPT for homework assistance.
Nearly half of those polled admitted to using ChatGPT for an at-home test or quiz, 53% for writing an essay, and 22% for outlining one.
The rippling results have resulted in a big lower within the variety of duties for which freelancers might bid or qualify.
Counting on freelancers
During the last decade, college students and students from developed nations resembling Europe and the USA relied closely on Kenyan freelancers to finish schoolwork starting from easy essays to translations, transcribing, and even bigger duties resembling PhD theses.
Thus far, the business has had restricted to no disruption in its operations, except for the Covid epidemic.
In keeping with interviews with dozens of freelancers in Kenya, AI expertise has modified the way in which issues are performed within the tutorial writing discipline.
Mary, a Nakuru-based tutorial author, mentioned a few of her common shoppers are actually selecting machine assist and hiring them to proofread the ultimate product.
“Beforehand, I carried out the analysis, wrote the draft, edited it, and produced a closing polished copy, which might value between Sh500 and Sh700 relying on the size of the project.
“Nonetheless, some shoppers are actually sending us AI-generated content material to edit,” Mary mentioned.
She provides that the method of modifying alone earns her round Sh300.
Lawrence Osoro, 30, who operates quite a few on-line writing accounts that join freelancers with prospects, mentioned the quantity of duties coming in has decreased, however the course of has not.
“Not that enterprise has come to a halt, however when you speak to freelancers, they may let you know the variety of jobs on supply has decreased,” he mentioned.
Osoro additionally mentioned his work has been simpler since discovering ChatGPT. He mentioned he lets the AI make a replica of the duty at hand earlier than modifying it and filling in holes that the AI might have missed.
“I used to be chatting with one in every of my longtime shoppers, they usually instructed me that one of many essays he was alleged to contact me to finish had already been generated on ChatGPT,” he mentioned.
Osoro is a regulation graduate who has by no means practised; as a substitute, he acquired an curiosity in tutorial writing whereas a second-year scholar.
After working as a contract author for 3 years, he determined to speculate Sh40,000 on an educational writing account in 2019. Now he bids on writing assignments and employs further writers to carry out duties for a portion of the general fee.
For instance, Osoro says if a consumer contacts him and requests that he end a 500-word essay, he'll cost him Sh1,000. He would rent one other author to do the project for Sh400 if he will get the contract.
This resulted in a big rise in his month-to-month earnings from Sh60,000 to virtually Sh100,000.
“I now personal three such accounts, and they're all five-star rated, which suggests these served are proud of the service, and the ranking additionally helps me get extra shoppers,” he mentioned.
Whereas there's clearly a shake-up, Osoro stays optimistic in regards to the business, saying AI would solely simplify quite than eradicate their work.
He says the machine-generated writings will likewise require modifying.
Osoro went on: “I have been utilizing AI since I discovered about it in February. After all, you possibly can't let the machine do all the be just right for you, but it surely's helpful in simplifying.”
Laura Tich, a cyber safety specialist and the creator of SheHacks Kenya, believes that as AI expertise advances, establishments will be capable of restrict AI-generated writing.
Extra work performed
Tich believes quite than making freelancers out of date, AI will permit them to cowl extra work and concentrate on innovation.
“Machines needs to be seen as instruments to assist us reside our lives, not as replacements,” Tich mentioned.
Within the West, the educational writing sector is regarded with suspicion and has been nicknamed contract dishonest or essay mills, whereas in Kenya, it's seen as a supply of revenue for hundreds of houses.
In keeping with a 2018 ballot of fifty,000 college students from around the globe, 15.7% acknowledged dishonest since 2014, up from a mean of three.5% in the course of the earlier 40 years.
The enterprise is dominated by college graduates who're both unemployed or have left their employment to pursue writing careers.
International governments, together with Australia, the UK, and the USA have beforehand expressed fear in regards to the tutorial writing sector, fearing that it's decreasing the standard of graduates.
This resulted in a crackdown on a few of the web sites that offered these companies; nonetheless, freelancers contacted indicated that this had little impression on their corporations.
Altering methods
Universities have tried to adapt the way in which they assess college students in response to the hazard.
More and more college students are being requested to orally current their work in entrance of a seminar group or to reply questions from lecturers.
Generally college students are requested to submit research notes, early drafts, and work in progress. Nonetheless, essay companies have considered that. For an additional price, notes and drafts can be found too.
The ICT ministry in Kenya estimates about 500,000 youths in Kenya work within the on-line house. Nonetheless, there is no such thing as a breakdown of these doing tutorial writing.
Moreover, the net writing business is unregulated in Kenya and different nations. Plans to mainstream the enterprise and accumulate taxes from freelancers have but to be applied.