Lately, I have been using GenAI’s Deep Research functionalities from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini to explore topics of my interest, such as the state of research in Kenyan universities, Catholicism – its role in civilizing the West and colonialism in Africa, and alternative economic models to capitalism in Africa. So far, the journey has been enjoyable, to say the least.
For now, my inspiration primarily comes from the books that I read. For example, while reading Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Homecoming, I was struck by these sentiments:
“There is no area of our lives which has not been affected by the social, political, and expansionist needs of European capitalism: from that of the reluctant African, driven by whips and gunpowder to work on the cotton plantations of America, the rubber plantations in the Congo, the gold and diamond mines in southern Africa, to that of the modern African worker spending his meagre hard-earned income on imported cars and other goods (razor blade and Coca Cola even), to bolster the same Western industries that got off the ground on the backs of his peasant ancestors and on the plunder of a continent.
Yet the sad truth is that instead of breaking from an economic system whose lifeblood is the wholesale exploitation of our continent and the murder of our people, most of our countries have adopted the same system.“
This prompted me to think of possible alternatives to capitalism. Initially, I was reminded of my university course, principles of cooperative management. In addition to being among the very few units that I had actually attempted to read the entire core texts, it was also among those that I deeply enjoyed and could connect with.
(By the way, why can’t the Cooperative University of Kenya solely focus on cooperative studies instead of venturing into offering other courses?)
I have come to view cooperative movements as vital vessels that can be harnessed to help achieve sustainable economic development in developing countries, such as Kenya. As a matter of principle, cooperatives, instead of focusing on profit-making, choose to prioritize members’ and communal well-being.
As the concept of circular and green economies continues to gain momentum in Africa, it is imperative to revisit our past to find possible ways of integrating indigenous knowledge. Solutions that are in tandem with our cultures, values, and principles.
Cycling back to Ngugi’s above-quoted sentiments, I sought GenAI’s indulgence on alternative economic systems for Africa. Below was my prompt on Google’s Gemini:
Generate a research paper on the implications of Africa eschewing capitalism for other economic systems, such as socialism, highlighting factors like the success of co-operative movement across the continent, capitalism and its impact on climate change, the need for eco-friendly economies that does not focus on profit-maximizing strategies, geopolitical tensions which brings about punitive tariff tactics, and looming world war three, among other issues.
The output was a thoroughly detailed 34-page document filled with vital information on the history of a unique socialism in Africa, highlighting Mwalimu Nyerere’s Ujamaa policy and Kwame Nkrumah’s state-led development plan; the cooperative movement in Malawi, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia; capitalism’s environmental footprint; and the need for resilient economic systems in Africa in the face of the current deeply divided world.
I learnt a lot, and this stimulated my curiosity to want to learn more; not only about economic systems but other topics such as Catholicism. I’m a Catholic on paper, although my practice has dwindled since I finished high school.
Probably fueled by Pope Francis’ passing away, I started to dive into the history of the church. I keenly followed the procession of the Pope’s burial. Next, I found myself in a rabbit hole, searching for books and texts about The Church.
“How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” by Thomas E. Woods, Jr., is among the first books that I stumbled upon. I was hooked on the book within a few minutes. It became quite clear from the outset that Catholicism played a crucial role in the development of Western civilization, particularly in the period following the fall of the Roman Empire.
The Church played a critical role in developing international law; art and literature; education and scholarship; science and knowledge preservation; and charity, hospitals, and social welfare.
What a beautiful story of the Church in the West! I couldn’t help but admire the Church’s impact. A rush of blood surged through my veins. I couldn’t even sit still on my chair. My church! We contributed so much to the most dominant civilization in the world.
But I thought of the juxtaposition of the Church’s role in the West versus in Africa. The missionaries’ arrival in Kenya is intertwined with the commencement of British colonialism, a process that caused great atrocities to my country. Therefore, in Kenya, the arrival of Christianity is a complicated issue that must be viewed from two different perspectives.
I quickly reminded myself not to be resentful of the arrival of Christianity. That makes me a jerk! I mean, how many schools and hospitals have they built? How about the role of the church in helping to stabilize society by preaching love, peace, and unity? It’s a cornerstone pillar of Kenyan society.
At this point, I believed I had resolved the issue quite conclusively – a pragmatic approach must be adopted to understand and appreciate the complicated role of the Church in Africa. Throwing a blind eye on one side doesn’t make sense at all. I thought to myself: how can I communicate this to other people? Again, I sought the indulgence of Gemini’s Deep Research:
In Africa, the arrival of missionaries is characterized as the start of colonialism – the deliberate erosion of the African education system (and replacing it with Western systems), despising of African cultures and traditions, including indigenous spiritual practices.
Therefore, it is safe to argue that Africans view Catholicism as a bad thing – colonialism led to rape of women, imposed bad leadership, land grabbing, among other things. In contrast, Catholicism is a cornerstone pillar in Western civilization. Explain this contrast.
Elaborately describe the significance and contribution of Catholicism to Western civilization, highlighting art, education (including the university system), international law, science, township, charity, hospitals, and the separation of church from state (including what led to the separation).
Also, highlight the relevant personalities responsible for these contributions, including the popes, scholars, resistance, and states, among others.
In Africa, highlight the contribution of the Catholic church so far, both the atrocities and the good things. Lastly, paint a reconciling picture of Catholicism in the West and Africa. Make the narrative report as detailed and wide-encompassing as possible.
In about 10 minutes, I received a 68-page document, well articulating the perception of Catholicism in Africa and the West, thoroughly covering areas such as education, law, science, charity, and art, among others.
Of course, I finished reading the paper before Thomas Woods’ book. But this only fueled my efforts in reading the book, because the book gives a deeper dive into the lives of the Catholic scholars, the papacy’s role in advancing science and art, and deeply rooted Catholic beliefs and cultures, among other things.
Lastly, I recently used Gemini to learn about the history of Kenya’s higher education industry, right from the pre-colonial period up to date. I have been keenly following President Trump’s fight with universities in the US.
This has prompted me to question the role of our local universities in spurring development. Particularly, I’m interested in learning about the research output of the universities and their real-world impact on the Kenyan society.
Here was my prompt to Gemini:
Kenyan universities are currently grappling with a lot of issues. Shortage of funding remains a big part of the problem. As a relatively young country with so much potential, universities should be seen as a critical part of churning out educated and learned individuals ready to contribute at various capacities to assist in developing the country’s economy – whether law, business, economics, community building, politics, and governance, etc.
Higher education is the gate opener for better opportunities in life for a lot of the Kenyan populace; it grants people the opportunity to access meaningful job opportunities that necessitate social and economic mobility.
Currently, in Kenya, a lot of degree holders do not have employment. This can be attributed to many factors, such as stagnating growth of the economy, hence, a lack of job creation. This, in turn, can be attributed to many factors, such as insufficient preparation of students in campuses as job creators (universities seem to focus on imparting job hunting skills as opposed to job creation knowledge, skills, and attitudes).
Provide a comprehensive study paper that examines the historical development of institutions of higher education in Kenya, the key policies that have influenced their evolution, and the bodies of research produced by universities across the country, highlighting their impact on national development.
Additionally, the paper should assess the current state of research universities in Kenya, identify the major challenges they face, and propose actionable solutions to address these challenges.
Borrowing from the West, what are the key structural and systemic changes that could be made to improve Kenya’s higher education system, without losing our key cultures, principles, and values (we don’t want to adopt Western cultures, but we can learn from their successes).
The output amazed me. A well-researched study paper, highlighting policy frameworks that have shaped university education since independence, the state of research in Kenyan universities, key challenges that they grapple with, and how those challenges can be tackled.
Coincidentally, Egerton University’s recent research findings revealed widespread use of agrichemicals by potato farmers in Nyandarua, which raised concerns about excessive pesticide residues in potato products within and outside the country.
I then used NotebookLM’s Audio Overview feature to turn these papers into podcast episodes. I have uploaded the podcast episodes on Spotify. You can stream them here.
I must admit that the AI-generated podcast episodes have a few issues, among them that the hosts are Westerners and they mispronounce some local names. For example, they couldn’t pronounce “Kwame Nkrumah”, “Ujamaa”, and “Kenyatta” properly.
Turn-taking in the AI-generated podcasts is sometimes off. Lastly, the episodes seem to be oversummarized. The longest episode was 35 minutes; I believe it should be longer.
I was inspired to draft this post by Nonie K. Lesaux, dean of the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University, who recently asserted during a symposium exploring the promise and peril of AI in academia that “We need to be clear that access to information is not the same as active learning and sustained learning.”
Whereas GenAI puts so many learning resources at our disposal, the actual process of [active and sustained] learning requires deliberate efforts by the learners themselves, in ways that foster meaningful knowledge acquisition and application.
So far, I have mainly been using GenAI’s Deep Research tools to strengthen my understanding of traditional learning materials, books.
