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I spent a lot of my life outside the English-speaking world, and this was a small sideline for a while. I get it wasn't the nicest way to earn a living. My day

I spent a lot of my life outside the English-speaking world, and this was a small sideline for a while. I get it wasn't the nicest way to earn a living. My day job was loftier but poorly-paid. Still, I've got respect for anyone who got by doing this, it can be fun and interesting with the right material, but the clients are often dicks and the money is rubbish. It's quite stressful too, even given the low stakes. I never wanted a bad grade. My more significant sideline, and the one that ultimately got me into good work, was copy-editing. Also dead by AI. It's hard not to be bitter about this. I needed those jobs to keep me going whilst I made it in my chosen field. The rich kids in my sector never had to hustle and won't be affected. The folks doing it out of Nairobi, and the state school kids trying to get by overseas will. A case of AI pulling the ladder.

xhkkffbf 5d ago
The article certainly signals that we're supposed to feel sympathy for the folks in Kenya. But they are knowingly helping people cheat, right? The next thing, we'll be asked to feel sympathy for moms who kill their kids.
- win311fwg 5d ago
  > But they are knowingly helping people cheat, right? In the same way a mom and pop pizza joint willingly serving someone who is trying to be on a strict healthy diet is helping people cheat, yes, but if McDonalds then rolled in and took away all their business, is there no room to feel sympathy for the loss of mom and pop's livelihood? It is not a binary situation.
  - genidoi 5d ago
    No it’s not the same thing because one serves food, and the other facilitated academic fraud.
    - win311fwg 5d ago
      That doesn't make sense. If you want to take the food angle then the other serves homework. If you want to take the fraud angle then the other facilitates dietary fraud.
      - bsoqk 5d ago
        With dietary fraud you’re only defrauding yourself.
        win311fwg 5d ago
        To be fair your dietician/healthcare professional might also be disappointed, but you're ultimately right, just like with college nobody else cares. Of course, that was already implied from the onset. I find it intriguing that you've only just come to that realization.
- polytely 5d ago
  the industry only exists because of cheating Americans, maybe fix your own shit first before passing judgement
  - specproc 4d ago
    In fairness, I wasn't doing this for Americans. I would say the Anglo-American model of schooling, which treats students like customers, is very much to blame. The industry wouldn't exist if students were result expelled for cheating. It's pretty obvious when someone's doing it.
- specproc 4d ago
  > feel sympathy for moms who kill their kids That's a bit of a weird jump, where's that come from?

xhkkffbf 5d ago

The article certainly signals that we're supposed to feel sympathy for the folks in Kenya. But they are knowingly helping people cheat, right? The next thing, we'll be asked to feel sympathy for moms who kill their kids.

win311fwg 5d ago
> But they are knowingly helping people cheat, right? In the same way a mom and pop pizza joint willingly serving someone who is trying to be on a strict healthy diet is helping people cheat, yes, but if McDonalds then rolled in and took away all their business, is there no room to feel sympathy for the loss of mom and pop's livelihood? It is not a binary situation.
- genidoi 5d ago
  No it’s not the same thing because one serves food, and the other facilitated academic fraud.
  - win311fwg 5d ago
    That doesn't make sense. If you want to take the food angle then the other serves homework. If you want to take the fraud angle then the other facilitates dietary fraud.
    - bsoqk 5d ago
      With dietary fraud you’re only defrauding yourself.
      - win311fwg 5d ago
        To be fair your dietician/healthcare professional might also be disappointed, but you're ultimately right, just like with college nobody else cares. Of course, that was already implied from the onset. I find it intriguing that you've only just come to that realization.
polytely 5d ago
the industry only exists because of cheating Americans, maybe fix your own shit first before passing judgement
- specproc 4d ago
  In fairness, I wasn't doing this for Americans. I would say the Anglo-American model of schooling, which treats students like customers, is very much to blame. The industry wouldn't exist if students were result expelled for cheating. It's pretty obvious when someone's doing it.
specproc 4d ago
> feel sympathy for moms who kill their kids That's a bit of a weird jump, where's that come from?