I won’t be breaking any news by stating that the world of freelancing is on the cusp of a revolution, driven by the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Generative AI.

Based on my behind-the-scenes conversations with other creative professionals in the field of visual arts, I conclude that most of us have experienced similar reactions to the emergence of generative AI.

Initially, most of us felt threatened in a similar manner to how I observed analog photographers feeling threatened by and resentful towards the emergence of digital photography and Photoshop when I was just starting out in my creative professional journey after a decade-long corporate career in Finance.

If you were in this field back then, the memory is clear – those who recognized they couldn’t halt the industry transformation, adapted by transitioning to the digital medium.

While those who struggled to overcome the bitterness of having to discard all the knowledge and expertise they had accumulated, ultimately faded into obscurity.

I am convinced we are encountering a similar accelerated shift in the freelancer market, and each of us will face a decision at this juncture: resist the emergence of the new generative AI tools and disregard what they have to offer, or embrace them and learn to enhance your current skills.

Perhaps reframing your perspective on generative AI can aid in making a more rational decision: this technology isn’t here to take your job, it is here to amplify and supercharge it.

There is tremendous apprehension about the potential of generative AI—technologies that can create new content such as audio, text, images, and video—to replace people in many jobs. But one of the biggest opportunities generative AI offers to businesses and governments is to augment human creativity and overcome the challenges of democratizing innovation.

Harvard Business Review: How How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity

What is Generative AI?

Imagine a tool that is under your command that can not only understand information but also create entirely new things – that’s Generative AI.

It can generate realistic images, craft compelling stories for your blog, write social media captions, help you plan out your working schedule or a learning path for acquiring a new skill, opening doors to a universe of creative possibilities for freelancers.

How can AI benefit you?

• Boost Efficiency: ChatGPT can help you write emails, blog posts, website copy and brainstorm ideas. Tools like Loom can automatically summarize videos you create for clients in text, saving you time and effort.
• Enhance Creativity: Midjourney allows you to generate unique images based on simple descriptions. You can use it to plan your shoots or digital art pieces, beauty or fashion looks – so many implementation opportunities there!
• Save Money, Time & Space: If you are a photographer, digital artist, illustrator or retoucher, you can generate images of props and backgrounds instead of buying and hoarding the actual physical items or stock images. Yes, sometimes you will generate not exactly what you need, but that’s what your retouching skills will come in handy.
• Expand Services: Offer new services like creating AI-powered content, generating images of “plates” for your clients’ product photos, or writing industry-centric articles, and social media captions using Generative AI tools.
• Stay Competitive: The freelance landscape is changing. Mastering AI skills will position you as a valuable asset to your clients.

Where you can begin mastering generative AI tools

Learning AI is an investment in your future. Here’s how you can get started:

• Explore ChatGPT: As I mentioned above, this AI tool can write emails, brainstorm ideas, translate languages and it can help you with research in any field. Just double-check its responses for important things since it is known to not always be correct.
  You can start experimenting, if you haven’t yet, by creating a free OpenAI account. Check out this video to begin using it: How to Use ChatGPT – Free Course For Beginners (Includes 100+ Prompts)
• Experiment with Midjourney: There are so many ways to implement your generated visuals into your photography or digital art portfolio with MidJourney, just give it a good look and you’ll find great opportunities for yourself.
  I started with their basic tutorials and that was sufficient to get me going: MidJourney Quick Start Guide.
• Stay Curious: The world of AI is constantly evolving. Keep an eye on new tools and trends! It is going FAST!

By embracing AI, you can unlock new levels of creativity, efficiency, and success. Don’t get left behind, start your AI journey today 🫵

Applied Generative AI Course at MIT

Join me in this upcoming MIT Course: Applied Generative AI for Digital Transformation – it starts in just a few days on March 18th, 2024 (4 live sessions, 3 weeks only).

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More food for thought

• Imperial College Business School: How is AI affecting freelance jobs?
• Harvard Business Review: How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity
• How to Use AI to Revolutionize Your Freelancing Career by Matt Olpinski
• How Generative AI is Enhancing Creativity