AI Is Not Going Away: Adapt or Risk Being Left Behind

There was a time when the computer was the enemy. When computers began finding their way into offices, banks, factories and government departments, many workers looked at those strange machines with suspicion. To them, computers were not symbols of progress, they were machines coming for their jobs.

To some extent, their fears were justified. Jobs that previously required several people could suddenly be performed by one person sitting behind a computer. Filing cabinets disappeared. Typing pools shrank. Manual bookkeeping declined. Some clerical and repetitive jobs became redundant.

Workers asked the same question many people are asking about Artificial Intelligence (AI) today: “If this machine can do my work, what happens to me?”

Yet something else happened. Computers did not simply destroy jobs. They transformed work and created entirely new industries, professions and businesses that had barely existed before.

Software developers, IT technicians, cybersecurity specialists, web designers, data analysts, digital marketers, online content creators, computer repair technicians, network administrators and countless other professions emerged or expanded around computer technology.

Then came the internet, smartphones and mobile applications, creating even more opportunities. 

In Kenya, think about how many livelihoods today depend on technologies that were either unavailable or insignificant a few decades ago. There are people earning a living through online businesses, digital marketing, graphic design, software development, social media management, online taxi platforms, e-commerce, content creation, mobile money agency businesses and countless other technology-driven activities.

The computer did kill some jobs. But it also changed the meaning of a job. And now history appears to be repeating itself with Artificial Intelligence. “AI Is Coming for Our Jobs”

Mention AI in some workplaces today and anxiety immediately enters the conversation. Writers wonder whether AI will replace them. Graphic designers worry about image-generation tools. Accountants see software analysing figures within seconds. Customer-care workers watch chatbots answering questions that previously required human agents. Transcribers, translators, programmers, teachers, journalists, photographers, marketers and even professionals in medicine and law are asking uncomfortable questions about how much of their work machines will eventually perform.

These fears should not simply be dismissed. AI will almost certainly eliminate, reduce or fundamentally change some jobs. Tasks that are repetitive, predictable and easily automated are particularly exposed.

But there is an important distinction we often overlook: A technology can replace a task without necessarily replacing an entire profession.

A journalist, for instance, does much more than type words. Journalism involves identifying stories, interviewing people, verifying information, understanding communities, exercising editorial judgement and being accountable for what is published.

AI may help transcribe a two-hour interview in minutes, organise notes, analyse documents or suggest different ways of presenting information. But a responsible journalist still has to determine what is true, what matters and what should be published.

The same applies to many other professions. An accountant equipped with AI may analyse financial records faster. A doctor may use technology to help identify patterns in medical information. A farmer may use AI-supported applications to identify crop diseases. A teacher may use it to prepare learning materials or simplify difficult concepts.

Technology changes the tools. Human beings must decide how intelligently those tools are used. The Real Competition May Not Be Human Versus AI. Perhaps we are asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking, “Will AI replace me?”, workers may need to ask:

“What happens when someone in my profession learns to use AI better than I do?”

Imagine two graphic designers competing for the same assignment. One refuses to touch AI because he believes it threatens his profession. He takes eight hours to research concepts, develop drafts and prepare variations for his client.

The second designer understands the same fundamentals of design but uses AI to brainstorm concepts, automate repetitive processes and test several ideas before applying her professional judgement. She completes comparable work in three hours.

Who is likely to become more competitive?

The same could happen in an accounting office. If one accountant manually spends an entire day analysing hundreds of transactions while another knows how to use modern tools to identify patterns within minutes, and then independently checks the results, the technology-assisted worker suddenly has an enormous productivity advantage.

This does not necessarily mean AI replaces the accountant.

It may mean the accountant using AI becomes more competitive than the accountant who refuses to use it.

That is precisely what happened during previous technological revolutions. Remember What Happened with Computers? When computers entered Kenyan workplaces, not everyone embraced them.

For some older workers, learning basic computer skills felt unnecessary. They had performed their jobs manually for years. Why suddenly learn Microsoft Word, spreadsheets, email or computerised accounting?

Computer colleges mushroomed across Kenyan towns. Institutions offered basic packages teaching Word processing, spreadsheets, databases, internet and email. Some people embraced the opportunity. Others said computers were for young people.

But slowly, job advertisements started including a small requirement that eventually became almost universal: Computer literacy. Suddenly, knowing how to operate a computer was no longer an impressive additional qualification. It was expected.

A secretary who could type, prepare documents, send emails and manage electronic records became more useful than someone who insisted on doing everything manually. An accountant who understood spreadsheets and accounting software could process information much faster than one relying entirely on physical ledgers.

Those who adapted did not necessarily abandon their professions.

They upgraded them. That may be exactly where we are heading with AI.

From Cyber Cafés to M-PESA: Kenya Has Seen This Movie Before

Kenya provides particularly interesting examples of how technology can disrupt one system while creating another. Think about communication.

There was a time when sending information over long distances depended heavily on letters, physical documents and expensive telephone calls. Email, smartphones and instant messaging disrupted many of those traditional systems. Yet today thousands of Kenyans earn livelihoods in businesses built around mobile phones and the internet.

Consider mobile money.

M-PESA fundamentally changed how Kenyans send and receive money. Some traditional financial activities were disrupted, but an enormous ecosystem also developed around mobile-money agents, fintech companies, payment systems, app developers and online businesses.

Ride-hailing technology provides another example.

The smartphone combined GPS, digital payments and mobile applications to create an entirely different transport business model. Drivers who previously depended primarily on physical stages or personal contacts could suddenly connect with customers through digital platforms.

Technology rarely arrives politely. It disrupts one way of doing things and creates another.

AI Could Create Jobs We Haven't Even Named Yet

Twenty-five years ago, imagine telling someone in a Kenyan village that one day a young person could earn money by sitting in a bedroom making short videos for people around the world. They might have laughed.

“Content creator” was hardly a conventional career. Neither were social-media manager, app developer, digital marketer, cybersecurity analyst or many of the technology-related occupations common today.

AI could follow the same pattern. Some emerging jobs will involve developing AI systems. Others will involve training, supervising, auditing, securing or applying them in specific industries.

More importantly, traditional professions will acquire new AI-related skills. We may increasingly see AI-assisted teachers, AI-enabled farmers, AI-supported journalists, AI-literate lawyers, AI-powered entrepreneurs and health professionals who understand how to use intelligent systems without surrendering professional judgement to them.

And there will probably be occupations created by AI that we cannot clearly imagine today.

Africa Cannot Afford to Watch From the Sidelines

For Africa, the AI conversation should go beyond fear of job losses.

The bigger question is whether we will merely consume the technology developed elsewhere or learn how to adapt it to African problems.

Imagine AI tools designed around Kenyan agriculture that help a small-scale farmer identify pests by photographing a diseased leaf. Imagine systems that translate educational material into Kiswahili and African languages.

Think about technology helping doctors in understaffed facilities analyse information faster, businesses forecast demand, or county governments identify irregularities in revenue and expenditure.

A small Kenyan business owner who cannot afford a marketing department could use AI to develop basic advertising concepts, analyse customer feedback or improve communication.

A university student could use AI as a learning assistant, not to cheat by submitting machine-generated assignments, but to explain a difficult concept, test understanding or identify areas requiring more study.

That distinction matters.

Using AI effectively does not mean allowing it to think for you. It simply means knowing when to use it, how to question its output and when not to trust it.

AI Is Powerful, But It Is Not Magic

There is another danger: blindly embracing AI can be just as foolish as blindly rejecting it. AI systems can make mistakes. They can confidently produce false information. They can reproduce bias, misunderstand context and generate convincing material that is completely wrong. There are also serious concerns around privacy, copyright, misinformation, fraud and overdependence on technology.

A student who asks AI to write every assignment may graduate with certificates but without the ability to think independently. A journalist who publishes AI-generated information without verification can spread falsehoods. A business that feeds confidential customer information into inappropriate AI systems may create privacy and security risks.

Therefore, adaptation must come with literacy. We don't merely need people who use AI. We need people who understand how to use AI responsibly.

Education Must Change Too

Schools, universities and employers must recognise this reality. Simply banning AI and pretending students will never use it is unlikely to prepare them for workplaces where the same technology may become routine.

Educational institutions should instead teach students where AI is useful, where it fails, how to verify its output and how to maintain independent critical thinking.

The calculator did not eliminate mathematics. Computers did not eliminate accountants. Google did not eliminate the need for knowledge. Likewise, AI should not eliminate thinking. The objective should be to combine human intelligence with increasingly powerful tools.

Adapt or Be Left Behind

Technology has never waited for everyone to become comfortable. The printing press changed communication. Machines transformed agriculture and manufacturing. Computers transformed offices. The internet transformed information. Smartphones transformed commerce and communication.

Now AI is transforming knowledge work. And it will not be the final technological revolution. Something more powerful will eventually come after today's AI, just as smartphones came after desktop computers and technologies we now consider ordinary once seemed revolutionary.

We cannot stop technological development simply because it makes us uncomfortable. What we can do is prepare ourselves. Learn. Experiment. Upgrade your skills. Understand what AI can do in your profession and, equally importantly, what it cannot do.

If you are a journalist, learn how AI can improve research without sacrificing verification. If you are an entrepreneur, understand how it can improve productivity without compromising your customers. If you are a student, use it to expand your thinking rather than replace it. If you are an employee, ask how technology can make you more valuable instead of waiting until your employer decides your old way of working is no longer efficient.

The lesson from the computer revolution is not that every worker who lost a job deserved it. Technological change can be brutal and governments, employers and educational institutions have a responsibility to help people retrain and transition.

But there is also a personal lesson we cannot ignore: When the world changes, refusing to learn does not stop the change.

AI is here. Some jobs will disappear. Many others will change. New opportunities will emerge. The winners will not necessarily be the people who know the most about technology today. They will be the people willing to keep learning tomorrow. Because ultimately, the biggest threat may not be Artificial Intelligence taking your job. It may be someone who understands how to use it better than you do.

~Jaymo Wa Thika
CEO Thika Town Today - 3T & 3T TV