Why Kenyans are said to write in a 'ChatGPT-like' style
A Kenyan essayist shared a story about how people often mistakenly believe his writing is from ChatGPT. He explained why this is a common problem among Kenyans.
I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Like Me.
Kenyan essayist Marcus Oran says that when he writes an English sentence, people sometimes think it was written in ChatGPT, and he's even been told, 'Could you rewrite it to sound a little more human? It feels like it was written in ChatGPT.'
Oran explained why this is the case, saying, 'This is not me writing like ChatGPT, it's ChatGPT writing like me.'
The official languages of Kenya are Swahili and English. Mr. Oran studied English in Kenya and focused on the English essay test for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), the final exam at the end of compulsory education. He says that this education in Kenya is the reason why Kenyans' English is like ChatGPT's.
In Kenya, there are apparently several unwritten rules that teachers teach their students every year. One example is 'Start with a proverb or a strong opening sentence.' Students are taught to write in this way, such as 'Haste makes waste,' then continuing with a story about someone who rushed to their destination but forgot their money. Also, rather than simply writing 'walk,' students are sometimes taught to use words like 'strode purposefully' or 'trudged wearily.'
And best of all, we were taught to 'write like a structure,' with the introduction as the foundation, the body as the walls, and the conclusion as the roof, and we were encouraged to succinctly summarize the moral of the story and return to the aphorism of the introduction, creating a predictable yet satisfying circular structure.
There is a historical background to this type of education. Kenya was originally a British colony, and English was introduced during the colonial period. However, it was
Oran pointed out that the formal English acquired through this education is similar to ChatGPT's, who learns a lot from English written in encyclopedias and papers, which is why the writing of Kenyans and ChatGPT is similar.
Oran said, 'People who try to identify whether a sentence is made by AI look for things like overly polite adverbs, classic parallel structures like 'not only X, but also Y,' and logical syllogisms that don't organize the main points. They consider these 'authentic' sentences to be AI-made. However, our writing is a product of history, a remnant of colonialism, the result of rigorous education, and a testament to the effort required to master our country's official language. It's infuriating to think that we've spent our lives learning a language, adhering to grammar rules more strictly than most native speakers, only to be called fake by a machine across the ocean. Before you point your finger at something and shout 'AI!', please stop and think: what you're seeing may not be AI content lacking humanity, but a form of humanity you're not familiar with. You may just be looking at something produced by a different education, a different history, and different standards.'
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