AI technology has had a huge impact on our lives. A 2023 survey by Pew Research found that 56% of people use AI at least once a day or once a week. That number is probably a lot higher today.
There are loads of ways that people can use AI to make their lives easier. But it is also having both a negative and positive impact on many jobs.
Freelance writers have been significantly affected by AI. Many of them are losing work to AI and others are finding it is helpful.
Here are some quotes from redditors on the r/freelanceWriters sub. They have shared their insights on the impact of AI. Most of them feel it is having a negative affect, but there are some good things about it too.
Some Writers Are Being Smart About Using AI in their Workflows
Many writers have started to say that AI can actually be helpful if they are trying to drum up work. This is something that u/ICanCrossMyPinkyToe has said. The technology helps them streamline some of their lower paying gigs.
“In fact I’ve been using AI more and more since others at my agency also do it (and iirc in mid 2023 my manager let some writers go because someone else was being 3x as productive with AI while still maintaining some quality) and it seems to be fine. I usually use its output as a reference since I’m usually writing about things with almost zero knowledge lol, or copy and paste good enough paragraphs and edit a few words here and there, add a question to make it more “engaging,” and overall make it flow better.”
AI is One of Many Factors Making it Hard to Find Work
u/Phronesis2000 says that this is one of the hardest times to find work as a freelance writer. They say AI is part of the problem, although there are other factors too.
“Not to dissuade you (you should definitely try), but just be aware that it is a very hard time to get started right now: Mass lay-offs, economic downturn, AI and Google algorithm changes have all combined to maake it 10x tougher than two years ago. I say this as there is an army of scammy youtubers, tiktokers and bloggers (‘gurus’) who make money off telling people it’s easy to make money freelance writing.”
AI Has Already Replaced Many Writers
u/davidmorelo states that many writers have already been replaced by AI.
“AI has already replaced MANY writers, and it will replace even more writers as it gets better and better. There is (and always will be) some demand for copy/content writers, but it requires significantly more effort to find work than it did a few years ago. That’s why I would never recommend this career to upcoming freelancers. If you like writing, then I suggest you write and produce video content (short or long – doesn’t matter) to create a portfolio. You can then use it to become a script writer or, more likely, video content producer in general.”
u/letemcry shares this perspective.
“Technical writing is about the only niche where there’s still work left.”
AI is Going to Shakeup the Freelance Writing Business for Some Time to Come
u/SordidLad writes that AI is clearly already starting to have a huge impact on the content writing industry.
“To other writers in the digital SaaS/PaaS space and the tech niche in general, what do you think the 2025 scene is looking like? Is AI able to take over our writing work as well? I’d imagine not as easily because many of these software tend to be esoteric and one must manually install them, play around and then write a guide or review after first-hand experience (which AI can’t do, yet).”
Some Clients Care More About Cost than Quality
u/ womp-womp-rats writes that a lot of clients don’t care as much about quality. They will get copy from AI because they are happier to get cheaper content than good content.
“Everything you said about why AI writing sucks might be true. But it doesn’t matter. The people who are buying copy from AI models rather than from people — they’re incapable of judging good writing from bad. It’s all just words on a page to them. They fundamentally see no difference between getting it from a machine and getting it from a person. If their AI copy doesn’t convert, well, they’ll just get different AI copy.”
What is the Future of AI for Freelance Writers?
There are clearly a lot of reasons AI is changing the freelance writing profession. Many people clearly are not happy with the impact, at least on Reddit. But it is still too early to say whether it will be a good or bad thing for the profession as a whole.