The Stenographers

A story of sorts about the potential impact of?AI

As a kid, I loved going to the office on Saturdays with my dad. People still worked half-days on Saturdays back then. I would sit quietly in my favourite armchair in his office, reading a book and watching him work.

Dad was the first person I knew who outsourced tasks. He had a few junior officers come pick up different files and go work on them. He would read through, underline a line or two with a red Biro and a wooden ruler, sign his signature, close the file, and put it in the wooden file holder labelled OUT. He also outsourced the task of typing letters. Yes, I say outsourced because he never typed any official letter himself. There were people who did that. And, in those days, most stenographers were women. One of them would come in when Dad called by pressing a button; it would buzz in the Typing Pool, as they called it.

A lady dressed in formal office clothes would come in with a pad and a pen in hand and stand to the left of Dad’s table. I was very shy and would do everything to avoid eye contact, but it’s hard to ignore a greeting: “Good morning, ‘Segun,” and I’d respond with a very fast “Good morning, ma.” There was always space for greetings before Dad would tell her, “Draft a letter to the head of service about ______. Include this statement, and end with this.” She would scribble unreadable marks on her pad, read it back to him, and he would make some corrections. They’d both go through a few drafts, and when it was good, she then goes away for about 30 minutes and returns with a typed letter in triplicate, with carbon paper in between sheets. Dad would read through the letter, and if there were any errors, she would use a special stenographer’s eraser to erase the mistakes and then retype over the empty spaces.

It was not a perfect process, but the stenographer would have a letter ready for him to sign at noon before everyone went home. Sometimes, Dad would unlock his special drawer, pull out a stamp and red stamp pad and stamp 'Top Secret' on some letters. For those secret communications, I was usually sent off on a small errand, so I could not listen in—tricky adults. Although I knew nothing about typography then, I was interested in how the typewriter produced letters on paper. The whole process was extremely fascinating. But what intrigues me today is how we have gone a full circle.

Come in, AI.

As an immigration officer, what kind of request would Dad make? Would the prompt be: Draft a letter to the Minister of Internal Affairs to inform him of security lapses at the border and include this statement?—?”this is a matter of extreme urgency as certain elements plan to storm the land crossings.” Boom! AI, the modern stenographer on steroids, would go to work and get a draft ready in a few seconds.

Mama, my mother, also outsourced tasks at home. I remember one day, she gathers all the women on the lane and assigned various tasks to each one of them. She also assigned a task to herself, and I wondered why she chose one of the harder and more complicated tasks. Of course, now I know. I think it’s because she did not want to entrust important tasks to others, no matter how unglamorous it was. That’s my mom. She was always hands-on, and she infected all her children with that trait.

As a women leader and community activist, what request would Mom ask AI to perform? Would her prompt be something like this: Draft a letter to the Local Government Chairman to request expanded services to meet the needs of returnee children from Ghana and include suggestions to build additional classrooms, hire more teachers, start a lunch program, counselling services, and after-school sports and recreation. I knew her well; everything had to benefit everyone. It’s okay to roll your eyes fondly if you have a parent like that.

My parents belonged in a different era, a bygone era, and they are gone. I am alive today and have witnessed society change many times, from teaching penmanship in school to using desktop computers, handheld technologies, cellular and satellite communications, augmented reality headsets, and all sorts. We are living in a new era. One of the most amazing things I’ve seen today is that you can order large fries and a medium drink from the comfort of your home. That is like the ultimate power outsourcing. Gone are the days when we would make a list of orders, put on our winter gear, jump in a freezing car and drive to Burger King. What? You did that? Yes, we did, and it was not too long ago.

I glibly call it outsourcing when we pass on tasks and errands to others to do. The spirit of outsourcing is behind our Google searches and use of AI. This is human nature and it drives innovation in some ways, good or bad. It also drives change in many ways. It impacts societal attitudes. AI will cause us to change. Every job will be impacted, and some will become obsolete. If my dad were alive today, knowing him, he would be very concerned about his support staff losing their jobs and would have written to the federal minister to request funds for staff retraining.

Me? I am watching everything change as I stand aside and speculate about where the most impact would be felt. No, AI will not impact cleaning jobs immediately, but it will. AI will not replace security staff immediately, but it will, with robotics in the mix. AI will not replace graphic designers just yet, but it is already making significant inroads into the profession. In 2024, I tried a beta version of a cloud-based website creation tool that produced a professional-looking six-page website in less than five minutes. I felt a major shift that day. One day, designosaurs like me will be looking for other jobs. Oh, I have plans, but I’m not telling right now. But wait! Self-driving vehicles would have eliminated my dream job before I’m ready to retire; what then? Hmm… Perplexity, Apple Intelligence, ChatGPT, DeepSeek. I summon you, for you are the new soothsayers. Prompt: You are a graphic designer and you see AI's impact on the profession. What compatible line of work would you look for? (Hold your breath). Bam!

Okay. I guess we all have to stop, step back, and envision how society will be changed?—?and agriculture, art, culture, education, healthcare, programming, robotics, transportation… Everything will be impacted, but we must not forget, we are humans, and we have free will and the ability to make choices. AI can offer suggestions, but we make the choice. If every designer took the same advice from AI, then all outcomes would be generic. This is where human creativity helps us excel. Keep that in mind.

Will the coming wave of AI’s impact be a tsunami or gentle, rolling waves? Should we strap on life jackets, get into our swimwear, or grab our wakeboards? Would you need scuba gear? I don’t know. Should we hold hands and brave the surge together, even though some are set to break rank and make a lot of money in the coming days? I don’t know. Would AI lessen the competitive nature of humans and make us all dependent? Would AI eventually conform and respect copyright laws for original works produced by humans? I don’t know. Would AI colonise more sections of the internet and create paywalls accessible only to the rich? I do not know. At this very moment, all I know is that my coffee is getting cold the longer I spend time on this subject.

Oh. Before I go, I unequivocally confirm AI was not used to write any part of this story?—?okay, maybe just some mild proofreading with Grammarly and Apple Intelligence. Honest. I am a story crafter, remember?

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I invite human-generated comments, questions, and thoughts.