Alveena Ahmad
It is not overstatement to claim that generative AI is pervasive, thus it is not surprising that businesses intend to increase their employee numbers as a result of the technology. Generative AI will lead to the hiring of more independent talent by 49% of hiring managers and more full-time employees by 49%. All of these are supported by a recent study by Upwork, which polled 1,400 American company executives.
The Rise of Generative AI
Generative AI has been the fastest-growing category on Upwork’s platform in the first half of 2023. Job postings related to generative AI surged by over 1,000% in Q2 2023 compared to the previous year. Simultaneously, searches for generative AI-related terms increased by a staggering 1,500% during the same period, as stated in Upwork’s press release.
According to Upwork, this surge in activity, combined with a positive hiring sentiment, indicates a significant interest among businesses in harnessing the potential of generative AI.
Exploring Diverse Use Cases
Dr. Kelly Monahan, managing director of the Upwork Research Institute, noted that the initial interest in generative AI revolved around specific tools like ChatGPT. However, as the year progressed, the focus shifted from singular tools to diverse applications of generative AI technology.
Monahan emphasized, “They are searching for the diverse use cases of generative AI technologies like AI content creation, services like Gradio (which is used for building machine learning web apps), and prompt engineering.”
Top 10 Generative AI-Related Searches by Companies
Here are the top 10 generative AI-related searches by companies on Upwork from January 1 to June 30, 2023:
- ChatGPT
- BERT
- Stable Diffusion
- TensorFlow
- AI chatbot
- Generative AI
- Image processing
- PyTorch
- Natural language processing
- Bard
The Fastest-Growing Generative AI-Related Searches
The fastest-growing generative AI-related searches on Upwork in Q2 2023 compared to Q1 2023 include:
- AI content creation
- Gradio
- Azure OpenAI
- Convolutional neural network
- Large language models
- Generative AI
- AI chatbot
- Midjourney
- Prompt engineering
- PyTorch
Top 10 Generative AI-Related Projects
The top 10 generative AI-related projects that clients hired freelancers for in the first half of 2023:
- ChatGPT
- Natural language processing
- TensorFlow
- Image processing
- PyTorch
- AI content creation
- Midjourney
- AI chatbot
- Model tuning
- Stable Diffusion
Upwork reported a growing supply of independent talent with generative AI skills on its platform in the first half of 2023. Independent professionals on Upwork have successfully completed more than 20,000 AI-related projects in the past year.
However, the interest in specific skills like prompt engineering, which involves crafting prompts to elicit responses from language models, only gained traction in the second quarter of 2023.
Emerging Generative AI Skills on Talent Profiles
These are the generative AI-related skills on Upwork talent profiles with the largest quarter-over-quarter growth (Q2 2023 vs. Q1 2023):
- Large language model
- Generative AI
- You Only Look Once
- Object detection
- Stable Diffusion
- Prompt engineering
- ChatGPT
- Azure OpenAI
- AI chatbot
- AI text-to-speech
Embracing Generative AI
Dr. Kelly Monahan suggests that both companies and professionals should adopt a “generative AI plus” mentality in their work. This means integrating generative AI into their workflows to enhance productivity and creativity.
For writers, understanding how to effectively use AI content creation tools can be a game-changer. Creative professionals can benefit from tools like Adobe’s Firefly for quick edits and fixes.
Monahan also advises companies to foster a culture of learning around AI, providing training, and access to generative AI tools, and encouraging team members to upskill through classes or certifications. Embracing generative AI, she notes, is a crucial step toward staying competitive in today’s tech-driven world.
