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Vlad Hu started his career as a software engineer and eventually founded his own software agency, but last year the big work opportunity was freelance jobs as an artificial intelligence expert. Hu is not alone. The rise of generative AI is rapidly changing the technology freelance job market, with AI-related job postings from employers and searches among job seekers surging on career and freelance job platforms such as LinkedIn, Upwork and Fiverr.
Three years ago, becoming an AI expert required “deep knowledge of machine learning algorithms, deep learning AI in general, and a lot of technical things,” said Hu, who works on chatbot implementation projects through Fiverr.
According to data from Indeed, job postings related to generative AI on its platform increased nearly 250% from July 2021 to July 2023.
According to LinkedIn – owned by Microsoft, OpenAI’s main investment backer – LinkedIn member searches for genetic AI terms have continued to increase since the major language model first broke through to the public in November 2022. Since the beginning of April, the number of posts from US LinkedIn members mentioning Gen AI keywords has increased 25% month over month. As of June, AI keywords like “ChatGPT,” “Prompt Engineering,” and “Prompt Crafting” were added to profiles 15 times more often than they were at the beginning of the year.
“Many companies are looking for ways to integrate AI into their business platforms and are working with qualified freelance developers,” said a Fiverr spokeswoman.
Hu said companies interested in launching a ChatGPT or similar AI bot in an app often contact him to learn more about the technology. According to the spokeswoman, Fiverr has also seen an explosion of interest in AI-related video creation in the last six months and is hiring companies looking for experts to develop AI apps.
According to LinkedIn, the demand for freelance AI experts is likely to continue to grow. A survey of executives conducted in June found that 44% in the U.S. intend to expand the use of AI technologies in the next year; 47% assume that this will increase productivity.
“AI is already driving change in the workforce,” wrote Dr. Karin Kimbrough, chief economist at LinkedIn, in a recent report that found just under half of executives say AI will increase productivity. “Over the past year, we have seen professionals around the world adopting AI skills at a rapid pace. This is happening in tandem with employers increasingly looking for talent who know how to effectively use emerging AI technologies to increase productivity in their organizations.”
AI-savvy freelancers have an opportunity to capitalize on the lack of AI skills among existing industry professionals across all sectors of the economy. For example, in the US job market, the technology, information and media sector classified by LinkedIn has the most AI-savvy members at just 2.2%. Other industries, including retail and financial services, are seeing rapid adoption of core AI skills, albeit with a very small baseline percentage of current employees who have relevant skills.
Freelance job platform Upwork, which recently signed a deal with OpenAI to match companies with experts familiar with their large language models, says the total number of AI skills marketed by experts is over 250. According to Margaret Lilani, vice president of talent at Upwork, while there are multiple paths to AI consulting, all job roles often require a solid foundation in computer science, knowledge of machine learning algorithms, knowledge of programming languages like Python, or experience in data management and analysis necessary.
Many AI professionals also have relevant college degrees or experience, such as a bachelor’s or master’s degree in fields such as computer science or engineering. Still, “Ultimately, when you land in the AI field, it comes down to demonstrating that you have the skills, abilities, and expertise to tackle a specific project,” Lilani said.
At online learning company Udacity, interest in AI-based courses has increased by 33% over the past year – deep learning, AI programming with Python, AI for commerce, machine learning, DevOps engineering, computer vision and natural language processing being among the popular courses of study. “To meet this demand, approximately 20% of our current content development roadmap includes generative AI and generative AI-related content,” said Victoria Papalian, general manager of Udacity’s consumer division.
For those who are not yet on the job market and are interested in the AI field, Lilani recommends getting started early by taking computer science courses. She says it lays a foundation in the programming languages needed for AI expertise, particularly for high school students who want to learn the building blocks of many AI domains. She added that independent educational methods, including YouTube videos or blogs, that focus on AI skills are becoming more popular among the workforce. Learning new concepts and tools like ChatGPT will become important as all types of professionals from all industries advance their careers.
Hu said to start with the basics, including using OpenAI tools such as ChatGPT, ChatGPT API, Dall-E and Davinci. However, he added that knowledge in these areas of AI is just the beginning. Spending time figuring out how these tools can be used within the organization is critical. The value of AI is limited by a user’s application of the technology, so knowledge must be complemented by intention for its use. “It really comes down to how you bridge the gap to the real-world problem,” Hu said.