Data labeling for global AI companies has become a significant hustle for young Kenyans. Now, they aim to go beyond simply feeding AI—they dream of designing it.
AI Work in Kenya’s Rural Areas
Caroline Njau hails from a farming family in Nyahururu, located 180 kilometers north of Nairobi, where they cultivate maize, wheat, and potatoes. But Njau has chosen a different path. Now living in Naivasha, a picturesque town at the heart of Kenya’s flower industry, she works as a data annotator for AI companies abroad. Sitting with a cup of milk tea, she spends her mornings using an app to label data for self-driving cars. This involves identifying traffic lights, vehicles, pedestrians, and more within images. An American subcontractor pays her $3 an hour for this work.
Njau, who studied teaching, started data annotation in 2021. “My parents struggle with technology, but I’ve always loved science. Data annotation provides an opportunity where you don’t need a degree, just a phone and internet,” she says.
Kenya as an Emerging Digital Hub
Kenya has become a hub for online work, competing with nations like India and the Philippines. The rise of tech startups, coupled with favorable business policies, skilled workers, and high-speed internet, has transformed the economy. A 2021 survey by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) showed that around 1.2 million Kenyans engage in online work, most of them informally.
However, Nairobi’s data annotators have exposed the industry’s darker side. In a Time article, workers described the grueling task of labeling disturbing content for OpenAI’s ChatGPT, earning less than $2 an hour for their efforts.
AI’s Reach Beyond Nairobi
Despite these challenges, the data annotation industry has expanded beyond Nairobi’s city limits. In January, during the launch of a government-supported tech hub in Kitale, a young ICT student shared his experience of earning $284 in three weeks by annotating data for Silicon Valley companies via the Remotasks platform. The clip, which quickly went viral, encouraged many Kenyans to sign up for similar work.
“Many youth are unemployed, and even computer science graduates struggle to find jobs. The government is helping by providing access to online opportunities,” says Kennedy Cheruyot, a 24-year-old nurse from Eldoret, who has been working online since 2021.
The Changing Landscape of Kenyan Work Culture
Cheruyot, who aims to become a ranch owner, now spends most of his time seeking online work to cover his living expenses. Although Kenya faces high commodity prices and a depreciating currency, he remains optimistic about his online income. “It may not seem like much, but it goes a long way here,” he says.
A Gateway to Bigger Dreams
For Njau, data annotation is just the first step. “Right now, we’re watering someone else’s garden. The flowers bloom, but we don’t see it,” she says, referring to the lack of ownership over the AI systems being developed. Her ultimate goal is to move beyond annotation and explore how AI is programmed. She believes Kenya has the potential to become a leader in AI, and she’s already involved in training young women and people with disabilities in data annotation through the Nairobi-based Next Step Foundation.
Training the Next Generation of Innovators
Programs like those offered by Next Step Foundation are helping Kenya position itself as a leader in the technological revolution. Nickson Otieno, the training manager at the foundation, believes a Kenyan could be the next innovator behind a groundbreaking AI invention. “There’s a lot of problems to solve, such as how AI can be used to inform Kenya Power about power cuts by analyzing social media complaints,” says Otieno.
However, as AI becomes more integrated into various industries, there are challenges in transforming Kenya into a global AI innovation hub. Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, a South African AI scholar, highlights that education systems in Africa need to adapt to the multidisciplinary nature of AI development. He notes that expertise in both computer science and medical fields is required to develop AI platforms for specific applications, like analyzing X-ray images.
AI’s Role in African Economies
While concerns about job displacement due to AI persist, Professor Marwala believes AI could boost small-scale businesses in Africa. He envisions AI being used by farmers, for instance, to analyze soil quality with cameras, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
Kenyan workers like Njau and Cheruyot are already using AI-powered applications like ChatGPT, finding them helpful for tasks such as cooking or travel planning. However, they acknowledge that while AI is a tool, it is not yet a replacement for the work they do.
