A growing number of Kenyan academic writers are losing income as artificial intelligence tools replace their services, disrupting a once-thriving ghostwriting industry that served university students in the United States and Europe. 

Bedsitters in Roysambu, Umoja, Gachie and others were once the humming nerve centres of an invisible industry where Kenyan graduates, most armed with degrees in literature, commerce, and social sciences, would spend long nights ghostwriting essays, dissertations, and coursework for students in the United States and the United Kingdom.

But now, thanks to the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), that once-dependable stream of income is rapidly drying up. 

“Since last year, it is now very hard to get jobs, unless you have established clients that you have dealt with for long, otherwise, generally work is very limited,” said Benjamin Ngugi, a Nairobi-based academic writer who has worked in the industry for over six years. 

For writers like Benjamin, the changes began subtly. Clients began sending fewer orders. Regular customers grew erratic.

Then came the silence. The culprit? AI tools like ChatGPT, which debuted in late 2022, quickly gained traction among college students across the world.

These tools can now produce full essays, write summaries, correct grammar, and even cite sources, all within seconds and at no cost. 

A report by Harvard Business School released late last year confirmed what writers on the ground already knew.

Since the launch of AI chatbots, demand for digital freelancers has dropped by 21 per cent. Freelance writing platforms such as Upwork and Remotasks recorded the sharpest decline, losing 30 per cent of their activity in the writing category.

Other sectors like coding, graphic design, and data entry also took hits, but none as dramatic as academic writing. 

“Writing professionals have been hit hardest, followed by software developers and engineers. Perhaps most telling is the 17 per cent drop in demand for graphic design and 3D modelling work,” the report notes. 

For years, Kenyan writers were the invisible backbone of the academic underground, doing the work that students in first-world universities either couldn’t do—or didn’t want to.

From Ivy League institutions like Harvard and Yale to public colleges in California and London, these students outsourced their assignments across the globe, and Kenyan graduates filled the gap with precision, speed, and affordability. 

Kenyan employment 

At the heart of this system was an unspoken transaction.

A Kenyan writer, often operating from a small apartment with nothing more than a laptop and internet connection, would be paid to research and write academic papers.

Some earned upwards of Ksh40,000 per month—significantly more than entry-level salaries in formal Kenyan employment. 

But the rise of AI has rewritten the rules. With platforms like ChatGPT, students no longer need to contract writers for help with coursework.

A few prompts typed into a chatbot now produce what would previously take a freelancer hours.

And while AI-generated work may not always match the nuance or depth of a seasoned human writer, it’s often “good enough” for students facing looming deadlines. 

“It’s painful,” said Miriam, a former psychology graduate turned ghostwriter. “I used to earn a decent living helping students overseas. Now, I sit here refreshing my email all day, hoping for an order that never comes.” 

In a country where formal employment remains elusive for many graduates, academic writing offered a way out.

It provided flexibility, a steady income, and for some, a sense of prestige, helping students at elite schools thousands of kilometres away.

But now, many are left in limbo, unsure of how to pivot as AI disrupts yet another layer of the digital economy. 

“Job categories with higher awareness of AI’s potential to substitute human labour saw a more significant decrease in job posts. As the number of job posts decreased, competition among freelancers intensified. However, the remaining jobs tended to be more complex and offered higher pay,” says the Harvard report. 

Some have tried to adapt. Writers are exploring ways to use AI as a tool rather than seeing it as competition.

A few offer editing services, helping clients improve AI-generated drafts.

Others are venturing into SEO writing, content creation, and virtual assistance—fields that are also slowly being encroached upon by automation. 

“I’ve had to reinvent myself,” said Kevin, another long-time academic writer. “Now, I use AI to generate drafts and then sell premium editing. But even that is not consistent. Everyone is trying to do the same.” 

The shift also raises ethical questions. If AI tools can be freely used by students to generate work, how do educators ensure academic integrity?

And as schools scramble to detect AI-generated submissions, some students may return to human writers for more nuanced and undetectable work.

But for now, that demand remains low. 

Kenya’s dominance in the academic ghostwriting industry was built on the intellectual surplus of underemployed graduates and the academic demands of wealthy students abroad.

But that model, once stable, is cracking. As artificial intelligence becomes smarter, faster, and more accessible, the need for human ghostwriters is waning. 

Benjamin still wakes up every day to check his inbox. Hope lingers.

But the reality is clear: the quiet industry that sustained him for years is slipping away—bit by bit, prompt by prompt.