Is AI Taking Writers’ Jobs? It’s More Complicated Than That.
Source: ChatGPT
It’s been a very busy past three months for me — busy enough that I’ve been severely neglecting my poor blog. But I’m back now and with more to write about than ever.
Less than four months ago I was seriously underemployed. I was simultaneously hunting for a new full-time gig and for freelance work, be that writing work or strategic comms. Fast forward to December and I’m now three months into my new full-time role as senior content specialist at Alberta Motor Association and increasingly busy with freelance work of both the writing and strategic sort. Life is busy but life is good right now.
In my last blog post, entitled AI: The Writer’s Perfect Sparring Partner, I alluded to an adversarial relationship with artificial intelligence. At the time I wrote it in late August of this year, I was feeling pretty negative towards all things AI related. Having gone from a full calendar of freelance writing work to a barren wasteland over the summer, I naturally blamed what seemed to be the obvious culprit. Things were dire enough over the summer that I was toying with a wholesale career change. I had begun to grieve the death of a career into which I had invested 20 years of my life.
Turns out rumours of the death of freelance writing were considerably exaggerated. After countless solicitations on LinkedIn and elsewhere, I finally landed my first new freelance gig in nearly a year. Another followed closely behind it. Followed by an opportunity to do some strategic web content development. Which in turn led to a new professional contact. Before I knew it, I was busy again. I still know that I need to continue the hustle in order to remain busy, as the ongoing work commitments I crave still elude me, but I’m more hopeful now than I’ve been in a long time.
So what about AI? Everybody seems to have a different opinion on the subject, but from what I’ve observed, it did kill off quite a bit of freelance work — but not the really good, worthwhile stuff. It killed off a fair bit of the low-hanging fruit in the industry and the work from employers for whom content was more of an afterthought than a priority. But this wasn’t just AI’s doing. Platforms like Upwork (which I briefly joined before quitting in disgust) have done much to precipitate a race to the bottom among many clients who want their content as cheap as possible while still having an actual human do it. I don’t know what kind of content people expect to get at $5 an hour, but I can’t imagine what people are getting is much better than pure AI slop.
Over the course of the past year I’ve observed a wholesale embrace of AI as well as a predictable backlash, and I think this has impacted the work I’ve managed to land (or lack thereof for a time). I think it took a while for people to fully realize the shortcomings of platforms like ChatGPT and to be able to discern the difference between AI-generated content and stuff that a real writer had a hand in, at least in an editorial role. But at least among the clients I’ve interacted with in recent months, there’s a real allergy to LLMs as content writers. This may shift again as the LLMs get better at writing, but from my standpoint the pace of improvement in these tools has, if anything, slowed a bit from where things were a year ago.
For people like me, this at least allows time to breathe — and reflect.
I’m still trying to pivot in my freelance work. I’d still feel safer in the long run doing more strategic work than straight ahead writing. The presence of AI means that it’s always going to be tempting for clients to tighten their belts by ditching the human writers for robots, whereas the strat planning and whatnot is less easy to outsource. It’s also, frankly, more interesting to me at this point. I’ve been a professional writer for over 20 years and I’m ready for new challenges. And thanks to all the work I’ve done learning the ins and outs of LLMs, I’ve become very effective at leveraging them for content planning and whatnot. Still, though, I welcome the writing work, as it seems as though the sun really hasn’t set on this industry. It’s just gotten more competitive.
So what have I learned from the past year’s trials and tribulations? Here are a few takeaways, for what they’re worth.
It’s still all about who you know.
The client that pulled me out of the ditch I was stuck in over the summer was a longstanding LinkedIn contact who was very familiar with my work. That really helped. I’ve subsequently gotten work with people who didn’t know who I was until recently, but it took an old contact to get the ball rolling again. Cultivate those contacts. You never know when you’ll need them.
Luck will eventually go your way if you keep trying.
I spent countless hours over the summer cold-contacting potential clients. One of them was a hospitality provider, to whom I pitched a web rewrite in exchange for a weekend’s accommodation with my wife. To my pleasant surprise, they took me up on my offer and this has led to subsequent regular work. The vast majority of my pitches got me exactly nowhere, but sometimes it only takes one hit to truly transform things.
You’re better off seeking out clients directly than through an intermediary.
I tried Upwork. I’ve tried other platforms like it. Nada. Literally all the success I’ve had in generating new clients has come from directly contacting people, either through LinkedIn or via email or even on the phone. Any client worth having wants a relationship with a real person. Otherwise, they might as well throw their lot in with ChatGPT.
If you can manage it, having a full-time job and a freelance side hustle is the way to go.
I have great health benefits through AMA. And an RRSP. And great work colleagues. And the work itself is enjoyable and energizing. And I work hybrid, which means that at least half the time when the clock hits 4:30 I can switch laptops and go into freelance mode without a long commute. And even on days where I do have to go into the office, I live close enough to work that it’s not a big hassle. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
AI isn’t going anywhere — so you might as well embrace it.
I hear work colleagues hating on it all the time. I, for one, don’t have the time or the energy for AI angst. It’s here, for better and for worse, and I want to be one of those people who’s ahead of the curve rather than scrambling to keep up. It’s not going to replace me but it can make me better at what I do, and I plan on continuing to take full advantage of what it offers.
I’d love to know others’ views on all this, so please do leave a comment on LinkedIn, Substack, or wherever you read this. And if you’re in need of a clever, energetic, AI-enhanced human being to tackle your latest content-related challenge, you can reach me here. I’m never too busy to entertain new work and always up for a new challenge. And if you just want to have coffee and talk writing and comms, I’m always up for that too. Let me know what’s on your mind.
