Across digital newsrooms and offices in Tanzania, professionals are navigating a fast-evolving technological landscape where artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape daily work.
While tools like ChatGPT offer unprecedented speed in drafting scripts and organizing content, they also introduce new complexities regarding work quality, reliance on automated systems, and the preservation of human authenticity. For many workers, the shift represents both a practical assistant and a potential test of traditional career paths.
This local reality mirrors broader international findings outlined in a May 2025 paper prepared under South Africa’s G20 Presidency by the International Labour Organization (ILO), titled Artificial intelligence adoption and its impacts on jobs.
The ILO report notes that while generative AI (GenAI) has the potential to expose certain occupations to automation, its capacity for complementing work and enhancing productivity is substantially larger.
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However, the report highlights that digital readiness and occupational exposure vary significantly across regions, with advanced economies experiencing higher exposure rates compared to emerging markets and developing economies, where many workers remain engaged in sectors less immediately affected by AI.
The human element: Balancing efficiency and authenticity in media
For media practitioners in Tanzania, generative AI has become a dual-edged tool that streamlines production while demanding careful oversight. Teddy Nazery, a news and features writer, noted the practical utility of AI tools in streamlining writing processes during an interview with Nijuze in Dar es Salaam.
“AI helps us journalists a lot in simplifying the way we do our stories,” Nazery said during the interview. “For example, if you have your story that requires a script and you want to write it in a shorter time, it means you will put the story in and understand how to use ChatGPT. It will help you with the arrangement of your story, maybe the types of shots you want…”.
At the same time, Nazery emphasized that AI cannot easily replace human broadcasters, particularly in radio, where audiences value genuine voices and emotional depth.
“AI is not easily able to take the place of radio journalists and broadcasters, because we want a real person’s voice and authenticity itself,” Nazery pointed out during the interview. “Most of the time AI uses a single voice that has no emotion, no ability to rise and fall”.
Nazery also warned about the risks of over-reliance and careless execution, noting that unedited robotic phrasing undermines professional credibility.
This perspective aligns with ILO findings on job quality, which caution that algorithmic management and uncritical adoption of AI can diminish worker autonomy and impact the overall quality of work.
Institutional adaptation and emerging skills gaps
Beyond daily newsroom tasks, the broader structural impact of AI on the Tanzanian labor market involves systematic shifts in education and professional training.
Zephania Reuben, founder of LogAI, explained in an interview with Nijuze that while African nations have historically lagged behind in adjusting curricula to match technological shifts, local universities are beginning to take concrete steps.
“When it comes to producing professionals, for our countries, for example Tanzania, universities have already taken steps,” Reuben stated.
He noted that institutions such as the University of Dodoma, Ardhi University, and the State University of Zanzibar have established Bachelor’s degree programs in Artificial Intelligence, complementing existing data science programs at institutions like the Mbeya University of Science and Technology, the African Statistical Training Center, the University of Dar es Salaam, and the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology.
Reuben also highlighted government initiatives like the Samia Scholarship program, which has supported students in studying AI and related sciences locally and abroad.
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However, the ILO report hints that demand for specialized AI and digital skills in emerging economies remains relatively low in online job vacancies, stressing that foundational digital literacy, cognitive skills, and socio-emotional competencies must be developed alongside technical know-how.
In another development, Reuben pointed out that immediate local challenges extend to misinformation and disinformation, where generative tools are sometimes misused to fabricate misleading content.
Moving forward: Education, regulation, and the road ahead
As AI becomes increasingly entrenched in Tanzania’s economic landscape, experts emphasize that rejection is neither practical nor sustainable.
Drawing parallels to historical transitions like the advent of electricity, the digital age, and social media, Reuben stressed that technology will continue to advance regardless of resistance.
“To go along with it, first we must invest in education, meaning the best use of AI, its disadvantages and advantages, and how we can use it better to benefit ourselves,” Reuben told Nijuze.
Nazery offered similar advice to media professionals, urging them not to view AI as a threat, but to learn how to prompt effectively and avoid lazy copy-and-paste practices.
Whether these emerging educational initiatives and professional adaptations will fully protect local livelihoods from future displacement remains to be seen.
