Who Is AI Replacing? The Impact of Generative AI on Online Freelancing Platforms

31 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2023 Last revised: 21 Feb 2024

See all articles by Ozge Demirci

Ozge Demirci

Harvard Business School

Jonas Hannane

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin); Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin)

Xinrong Zhu

Imperial College Business School

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 15, 2023

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of Generative AI technologies on the demand for online freelancers using a large dataset from a leading global freelancing platform. We identify the types of jobs that are more affected by Generative AI and quantify the magnitude of the heterogeneous impact. Our findings indicate a 21% decrease in the number of job posts for automation-prone jobs related to writing and coding, compared to jobs requiring manual-intensive skills, within eight months after the introduction of Chat-GPT. We show that the reduction in the number of job posts increases competition among freelancers while the remaining automation-prone jobs are of greater complexity and offer higher pay. We also find that the introduction of Image-generating AI technologies led to a 17% decrease in the number of job posts related to image creation. We use Google Trends to show that the more pronounced decline in the demand for freelancers within automation-prone jobs correlates with their higher public awareness of ChatGPT's substitutability.

Keywords: Generative AI, large language models, ChatGPT, digital freelancing platforms JEL No: O33, E24, J21, J24

JEL Classification: O33, E24, J21, J24

Suggested Citation

Demirci, Ozge and Hannane, Jonas and Zhu, Xinrong, Who Is AI Replacing? The Impact of Generative AI on Online Freelancing Platforms (October 15, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4602944 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4602944

Ozge Demirci

Harvard Business School ( email )

Harvard University
Harvard Business School, 25 Harvard Way
Boston, MA Boston 02163
United States

Jonas Hannane

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) ( email )

Straße des 17
Juni 135
Berlin, 10623
Germany

Xinrong Zhu (Contact Author)

Imperial College Business School ( email )

South Kensington Campus
Exhibition Road
London SW7 2AZ, SW7 2AZ
United Kingdom
07778963203 (Phone)

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