“I think everyone uses AI tools,” Zainab Lawal, who builds AI tools at a startup, told WT. “Younger employees use it for code generation when they are stuck. Seniors use it for code reviews. It's great, but there is a fear of redundancy.
"As an employee, if I can use AI tools to speed up my work, and at some levels, totally outsource to an AI tool or agent, I might worry that my manager might realise this and see there's no need for me to be employed," she added.
That view, a mix of enthusiasm and worry, captures how many African workers describe their relationship with AI. On the one hand, these tools shave hours off tedious tasks and open new possibilities for people who lack access to expensive expertise. On the other hand, the same efficiency that helps an employee meet deadlines also feeds a quiet fear: if AI can do my job, why keep me?
Zaynab Awofeso, a data scientist in Lagos, spends her days steeped in the world of artificial intelligence. She builds and researches machine learning models. Yet, when a routine task like drafting an email stumps her, she feels a flicker of guilt before opening ChatGPT.
"I was trying to think of the next thing to say, and I was just like, this is taking so much time," she confessed. "Normally, I would try to think, right? But now I’m just like, no, I don’t have to think." For Awofeso, this small moment captures a larger, unspoken tension gripping African professionals.
AI is the ultimate productivity hack, a silent partner in the daily grind. But its use often leaves workers with a gnawing anxiety as they quietly interrogate themselves about whether relying on it makes them less valuable.
