The history of technical innovation is consistent.
Initially, new technologies cause both economic dislocations and new opportunities. But the longer-term net effects of the vast majority of technical innovations are positive due to the creation of new opportunities and jobs.
We think that ChatGPT, and other forms of AI, will follow the same path - at least for the next 5-10 years.
In other words, AI will create economic winners and losers, but the net economic and job impacts will be positive.
We've been experimenting with ChatGPT for months and found it improves our productivity, cuts our costs, and frees us to spend more time on value added activities.
Even better, after working with ChatGPT, we're not worried about AI replacing us anytime soon (by that we mean at least for the next 5 years or so).
The reason is that our work is helping clients discern signals from noise.
And while ChatGPT is great at generating content (noise), it's not good at discerning signals - at least for the kind of work we do.
Like us, many other freelancers will benefit from ChatGPT and AI.
But there will also be freelancers replaced by AI.
Workers doing low to medium-skilled knowledge work, especially in content creation, will be at the most risk. AIs will provide the most significant productivity gains in these areas, reducing the demand for freelancers to do this type of work.
We think all freelancers and independent workers should be experimenting with ChatGPT and, if appropriate, other forms of AI.
The objectives of these experiments are to understand the following:
- Can AI can automate some or all of your work?
- If so, can you use AI to automate some of your work, freeing time to provide additional or higher-value services?
If the answer to (1) is no, your business is unlikely to be impacted by AI.
If the answer to (1) is yes, and (2) is no, you are at risk of being replaced by AI. You need to figure out how to provide different services or higher-value services.
If the answers are yes to (1) and yes to (2), you have an opportunity to benefit from AI.
The good news is that ChatGPT is a very approachable technology.
Getting started doesn't require specialized knowledge or training - although getting proficient takes time and practice.
ChatGPT is a game-changing technology for many jobs and industries.
Freelancers need to understand this technology - and how it will impact their business.