<story><title>AI is taking the jobs of Kenyans who write essays for U.S. college students</title><url>https://restofworld.org/2023/chatgpt-taking-kenya-ghostwriters-jobs/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ghiculescu</author><text>I can’t believe all the comments arguing that this is good for the Kenyans.&lt;p&gt;Yes, obviously this industry shouldn’t exist. But it does. Lots of industries exist purely to fix inefficiencies in others.&lt;p&gt;If there was other global knowledge work available to Kenyans I’m sure they’d take it. These people are writing college level essays! They are probably better writers than most of us.&lt;p&gt;When futurists talk about industrial revolutions they all agree that in the long term it works out but in the short term it causes lots of pain and suffering for those whose work is displaced.&lt;p&gt;If you’re an AI futurist you should be intellectually honest and admit that chatGPT is probably not going to be good for Kenya. Trying to dress it up as if there’s absolutely no downside to this is just lying to yourself.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>carlosjobim</author><text>&amp;gt; If there was other global knowledge work available to Kenyans I’m sure they’d take it. These people are writing college level essays! They are probably better writers than most of us.&lt;p&gt;Shouldn&amp;#x27;t they be employed at improving their own country, since they are this smart? Instead of gaining from corruption and fraud on another continent?&lt;p&gt;If the smartest young people in your country have to move abroad or work remotely for foreign companies in order to make the most of their skills, then your country and society is a total failure - ask me if you want, I&amp;#x27;m from one of those places.</text></comment>
<story><title>AI is taking the jobs of Kenyans who write essays for U.S. college students</title><url>https://restofworld.org/2023/chatgpt-taking-kenya-ghostwriters-jobs/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ghiculescu</author><text>I can’t believe all the comments arguing that this is good for the Kenyans.&lt;p&gt;Yes, obviously this industry shouldn’t exist. But it does. Lots of industries exist purely to fix inefficiencies in others.&lt;p&gt;If there was other global knowledge work available to Kenyans I’m sure they’d take it. These people are writing college level essays! They are probably better writers than most of us.&lt;p&gt;When futurists talk about industrial revolutions they all agree that in the long term it works out but in the short term it causes lots of pain and suffering for those whose work is displaced.&lt;p&gt;If you’re an AI futurist you should be intellectually honest and admit that chatGPT is probably not going to be good for Kenya. Trying to dress it up as if there’s absolutely no downside to this is just lying to yourself.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>automatic6131</author><text>Can&amp;#x27;t you see how bad it for Kenya - or anywhere - for people bright enough to write college level essays to be wasting their time writing them for rich people studying in Western colleges?&lt;p&gt;What you do for a living isn&amp;#x27;t neutral, there&amp;#x27;s an opportunity cost. That person in Kenya writing an essay for someone else isn&amp;#x27;t doing journalism or writing a great novel, or starting a business or whatever. Now, for sure, Kenya isn&amp;#x27;t the best place for doing those things anyway, but it&amp;#x27;s never going to be if a whole pool of labor is doing bullshit work like grinding out college-level essays. There&amp;#x27;s no path from where Kenya is today (not great, not as bad as you might think though) to where the West is where work like that is a part of its economy, is there?</text></comment>