Hey there {{ subscriber.firstName | default('friend') }},

 

After numerous requests to talk about the robots (or AI, if you prefer the more technical term), I guess I'm finally doin' it. 

 

There's a reason I've put off this topic for so long: I'm not an expert. Not even close.

 

When it comes to tech, I'm not what you'd call an early adopter.

 

I only recently upgraded my iPhone8. I don't own AirPods. I don't use Alexa, a Ring doorbell, or any other smart home features. I rely on pen and paper for my daily to-do list.

 

So when people are ranting and raving about some newfangled gadget or technology? I'm always very late to the party—if I ever join it at all. 

 

But I also recognize that artificial intelligence is bound to have a fairly substantial impact on the future (and, more specifically, my career).

 

That means I've tried to resist my natural tendencies and played around with it to get a sense of what all of the fuss is about. Even still, I'm certainly not the person to ask about its inner workings or how to use it.

 

If you're totally unfamiliar, most of the conversation about AI has focused on ChatGPT. It's a chatbot that will respond to your prompts with supposedly “human-like” responses.

Many freelancers have hypothesized (or even already experienced, yikes) clients jumping ship in favor of using ChatGPT as a more efficient and cost-effective way to generate content.

 

Cue the panic and the influx of freelancers popping into my inbox with questions like: 

As far as my overall feelings about AI (not that you asked, but I'll tell you anyway), I tend to oscillate pretty wildly between two extremes.

Sometimes I'm amazed and terrified of what it's capable of and what it could mean for the future (case in point, this AI-powered ability to have two-way voice conversations with…uhh…Steve Jobs). 

 

Other times I chuckle and shake my head at the fact that anybody thinks this silly little robot could come anywhere close to what a real human can produce (I mean, have you seen the horrifyingly hilarious teeth on those AI-generated “women laughing with salad” images? What in the fresh hell?). 

 

In my own (still pretty limited) experimentation with ChatGPT, I'll admit that I found myself slightly impressed with how much assistance it could provide. It helped me pull together some loose article outlines, generate a few headline ideas, or think of a new angle if I was stuck. 

 

What it produced was remarkable for—and here's the important part—a non-human.

 

Did it spit out something halfway decent? Sure. Was it anything I would submit directly to a client? Heck no. No way. Not even close.

 

The writing felt stiff, choppy, and robotic (duh), even if I asked for a friendly and conversational stone.

 

It didn't include research, stats, and external links (I honestly don't know if it's not capable at all or if I just need the higher-tier version).

 

It obviously couldn't conduct interviews with subject matter experts or incorporate personal anecdotes, seamless product mentions, or other nuanced elements.

 

And perhaps the most egregious of all? What it gave me wasn't always correct. With my healthy amount of skepticism, I obviously double-checked what it produced. It wasn't unusual to find some pretty glaring errors (which is why I like WorkLife's description of AI as “confidently incorrect”). 

 

When I think about those things, that leads me right to my biggest (and perhaps only) conclusion about how AI will impact freelancing: 

I think it will clearly distinguish between the clients that care about quality and the clients that don't. 

 

AI could be a powerful mechanism to determine which clients simply want to produce something and which clients really want to invest in something. 

 

I know firsthand that there are plenty of clients out there that look at freelancers like a cog in the machine—they're just trying to produce as much as they possibly can, quality be damned.

 

For freelancers who get paid pennies on the dollar to regurgitate content that's already ranking and crank out dozens of articles each week? Well, I think the robots are a-comin'. Heck, they're probably already here. 

 

But there are still plenty of clients who don't trust AI to do a sufficient job with the work. They want some real, human hands on the job—even if they use AI to supplement parts of the process.

 

If you need proof, here's a real note I got from one of my clients this week when she sent me an outline for an upcoming ebook: 
 

“I asked GPT-4 to help me write an outline. As a writer, I'm sure you know about AI's inadequacies re: basic human communication more than most, so feel free to treat this as a starting point/frame of reference and rework it as you see fit.” 
 

Basically, AI helped my content manager do her job—but it sure as hell didn't take my job (at least, not yet). 

 

Am I worried this could shift as AI continues to get smarter? Sure. Who knows what the future holds. 

 

But until we get there, I'm going to just keep putting one foot in front of the other until the robots officially push me out of my seat.

 

RELATED: Interesting look at some of ChatGPT's other flaws
(just in case you need a little more of a pick-me-up)
 

Not a fit for any of these gigs or opportunities? Get out there and proactively pitch the outlets you're interested in. You can do it—I promise. Here's what you need to know and here are some templates to help.

 

Want to find freelance gigs like these on your own? Snag my course.
 

This week has somehow felt like both a marathon and a sprint. I'm looking forward to recharging this weekend with hangouts with my boys, plenty of couch time, and maybe some pizza? Okay, definitely some pizza. 

Wishing you (and not the robots) a wonderful weekend. As always, happy freelancing! 😊