In the late 2000s, the rise of smartphones, connectivity, and apps changed the state of work. Apps like Uber and services like TaskRabbit forced many workers to become independent contractors or accept zero-hour employment. Yet, AI is transforming many occupations. Few focus on how it will affect the gig economy and the many workers who rely on app-based gigs for their income. Following up on a question in my latest Authority Magazine article, here are my thoughts about how AI will influence gig workers.
What Is The Gig Economy
The rise of the gig economy is a significant shift in how we work and conduct business. Traditional nine-to-five jobs are giving way to a more flexible, project-based approach to employment. Yet, the flexibility goes both ways. Workers are free to set their schedules. Yet, they are also responsible for a significant part of the costs of providing the service and have significantly fewer protections against wrongdoing, wage theft, and discrimination.
In this sense, apps and digital platforms serve as marketplaces and matchmakers between service providers and consumers. Instead of service providers hiring employees and providing a service, they connect customers with independent contractors to execute a task. Consequently, the gig economy is more than just a collection of apps and websites. It’s a fundamental reimagining of the relationship between labor and capital.
At its best, this new paradigm turns workers into micro-entrepreneurs, leveraging their skills and assets to create multiple income streams. At its worst, the change erodes worker protections, income stability, and the future of social safety nets.
Unfortunately, the differentiator often lies along the lines of skills and education. The change has been highly profitable for high-skilled workers, such as architects, graphic designers, and IT consultants. These occupations already featured many freelancers and contractors before the gig economy. However, taxi drivers, food delivery workers, and personal shoppers experience the other end of eroding income and increased risk.
The AI Impact On Gig Workers
The impact of AI similarly will fall along the lines of education, specialization, and control. As with many professions, specialists with AI will replace people who don’t utilize AI. Thus, the gig economy won’t change the impact of AI. We already see that AI meeting assistance, scheduling tools, and automated follow-ups allow these professionals to focus their time on high-value activities. Thus, AI is more likely to take over the personal assistant role, which computers have too often loaded onto individual workers.
On the other end of the gig worker spectrum, AI will continue diminishing income opportunities, especially in jurisdictions that recently enacted gig worker protections. Better forecasting mechanisms will negate minimum wages by blocking too many service providers from logging into the app. Ultimately, combining AI and robotics might replace many of these occupations. Crucially, none of these more manual workers have the opportunity to reap the benefits of AI, as there are few opportunities to automate their process without replacing the worker.
A Rising Challenge
As part of the gig economy, content creation and influencer marketing are already showing the phenomenon. Top creators increasingly employ AI for better results, while entry-level employees and contractors get replaced.
The same phenomenon is only a short while away for many other freelancer opportunities. Keeping up with the tools and enhancing productivity will remain a challenge for self-employed workers, no matter where they get their gigs.
Yet, the greater the dependency on a single app and the fewer mentally challenging tasks, the less chance of upskilling. As a society, we will have to face the challenge of what to do when the cycle of employee to gig worker to AI and Robot continues.