In November last year, Harvard Business School, in association with two others, released a report indicating that since the AI chatbot debuted in November 2022, demand for digital freelancers dropped by 21 per cent.
Specifically, freelance writing jobs from sites such as Upwork and Remotasks took the biggest beating accounting for 30 per cent of the drop followed by coding (20 per cent), graphic design (17 per cent), and data entry and social media post-production (13 per cent).
For years, Kenya accounted for the most academic writers aiding students in first-world countries such as the United States and the UK pursuing courses in universities, including in Ivy League universities.
Initially, clients and consultants who thronged the sites, popularly referred to as content mills, paused the recruitment formulae preferring to use AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.
In response, contractors who were hired through the platforms acquainted themselves with the new technology and went as far as lowering their rates and presenting their work with the assistance of the chatbots.
With time, some of the consultants hiring outsourcing human labour to assist with tasks such as writing complained that the ghostwriters increasingly submitted identical works likely generated by AI.
In an interview with Forbes early this month, one of the consultants revealed that when they outsourced two jobs, more than 200 of the 300 applicants presented work that was clearly generated from ChatGPT.
Forbes reported that some of the freelancers turned to work with ChatGPT after learning that the tool nearly eclipsed them. Clients, as a result, reported that they received identical submissions leading to disputes over pay.
Later, Upwork noted with concern that the increased use of ChatGPT and other AI tools presented a threat.
“Any use of generative artificial intelligence by users of our work marketplace may lead to additional claims of intellectual property infringement,” the company stated.
What Freelance Writers Should Do Instead
The Harvard Business School report indicated that the advancement of Generative AI is creating new opportunities making it prudent for freelancers to adapt.
For instance, it is important for human workers to diversify their skills with a concentration on sectors where human creativity and intelligence are required.
The skills of the future include strategic thinking, complex problem-solving, and nuanced content creation. Working with AI is also important.
