Demand for digital freelancers has dropped by 21% since ChatGPT was launched
The demand for freelancers working in writing and coding-related jobs has dropped by 21% since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, according to new research by Imperial College Business School, Harvard Business School, and the German Institute for Economic Research.
This research paper, Who is AI Replacing? The Impact of Generative AI on Online Freelancing Platforms looks at the impact of generative AI technologies on the demand for creative professionals who work hourly for different clients.
The researchers reviewed data on a global online freelancing job platform, with almost two million job postings spread across 61 different countries, for two years between July 2021 and July 2023.
They categorized these job roles into three sectors: automation-prone, manual work, and image generation. The researchers reviewed the frequency of job postings throughout the two-year period to understand the demand for digital freelancers working for different organizations and whether this was influenced by the launch of Chat GPT.
The study found that since the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, the number of job postings related to writing, software, app and web development, and engineering, otherwise known as automation-prone jobs, had fallen by 21% compared to the period before ChatGPT was launched.
However, freelance job postings focused on data entry, video and audio editing, and social media post-production were slightly less affected by ChatGPT, dropping by 13%. Jobs focused on image generation, such as graphic design and 3D modeling, saw a 17% drop in demand on the online job platform after image-generating AI tools.
The researchers backed up these findings by reviewing patterns from Google search volume indexes, which confirmed that sectors where workers had a high awareness of generative AI and how to utilize it, i.e., the tech industry, exhibited a more significant decline in demand from employers.
Dr. Xinrong Zhu, co-author and Assistant Professor of Marketing at Imperial College Business School, said: “Despite being available on the market for just over a year, ChatGPT has already had a huge impact on the workplace. Though many organizations may be shifting from freelancers to generative AI, it remains to be seen whether organizations are happy with the quality of work that AI provides in comparison to freelancers and whether this trend will continue.
“Although the findings of our research suggest that the jobs market looks gloomy, whenever technology sweeps professions aside, new ones will emerge. For freelancers, this means that those who adapt their skills to the changing landscape will continue to secure work in the future,” she said.
The researchers say that it remains unclear how generative AI technology will affect the digital labor market in the long run. The widespread adoption of generative AI by employers as a replacement for human workers may exacerbate an existing decline in demand for labor, worsening workers’ welfare. Meanwhile, the research suggests that generative AI can also enhance workers’ productivity and could consequently improve people’s earnings.
Looking ahead, the researchers say it is important to emphasize the ongoing need for roles that demand a more human touch, such as projects that call for a greater degree of creativity, intricate problem-solving, and nuanced understanding. According to the researchers, the future workplace will require a multitude of different skills and human intelligence to provide them.
This research was conducted by Dr. Xinrong Zhu, Assistant Professor in Marketing at Imperial College Business School, alongside Dr. Ozge Demirci, a Postdoctoral Fellow from Harvard Business School and incoming Imperial Assistant Professor, and Jonas Hannane, a PhD student from the German Institute for Economic Research. The study is available to download from the SSRN website.
Source: BlueSky Public Relations
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