When AI first emerged as freelancing competition, I expected it to be a minor, short-term blip. After all, human writers and AI writers aren’t interchangeable. However, it’s been over a year, and AI is still very much present in the professional freelancing industry. As someone who has been directly impacted by the growth of AI, here are some of the main changes I’ve noticed with AI and freelancing.

AI isn’t evil

I just want to start with the thought that AI isn’t the worst thing in the world. While I definitely have some concerns about the use of AI in the professional world, I also acknowledge that there are some logical and appropriate AI uses in many freelancing industries. So, this isn’t going to be one of those hate-on-AI posts. From my standpoint as an established and professional freelance writer, here are the main changes from a fact-based approach!

• Human freelancers are hiking rates: For many of us, AI bloggers have “taken” most of the low-rate customers. These clients would often request a discount and a short turn-around time, coupled with a revision request (or 10). Fellow freelancers, you know the ones I’m talking about! Since AI is affordable and easily accessible, many low-rate clients have moved entirely to AI writing. That leaves freelancers able to hike rates to a higher, better-matched amount, bringing in only the same higher, better-matched clients!  It also means you aren’t directly competing with AI, which is great.

• AI can offer advancement in the freelancing world: One of the most surprising changes I’ve seen is that you can learn how to use AI in freelancing even if you don’t actually use AI! For example, I have clients that use AI to generate content briefs to make it easier for them to research the topic. Others rely on AI to write a blog post draft, and then I take it and use it as my example to write a blog topic about the same topic from scratch. Many clients are comfortable using AI and I am careful to go along with it. I ensure they know I don’t use it to do any of my active writing.

• You see who your “real” clients are: My favourite component of how AI has changed the freelancing world is that you realize who is with you through it all. I’ve had many clients leave and some stay. One in particular that impressed me was a client who did end up leaving, but they fought hard to keep me on as their freelance writer. When this client’s team confirmed that they would be switching to AI freelance writing, my very angry client told me explicitly that this would be a downgrade and that the content wouldn’t be nearly the same. Even though they are gone for the foreseeable future, this client’s outrage still gives me the warm and fuzzies!

AI blog writers are here to stay (for now)

As far as I can see, AI freelancing will be around for a while. Otherwise, it would have burnt out months ago, and the freelancing world would have returned to normal by now. When I first planned this blog topic, I thought I’d talk mostly about how AI has destroyed freelancing. While it certainly has taken away a lot of business, I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve learned watching the gig economy change with the introduction of AI.

Are there any other freelancers out there who want to share their thoughts? Do you have questions? Please comment below!