Our position
We believe freelancers need to engage with AI — critically, thoughtfully, but actively. Not because we think it's perfect. But because the alternative puts freelancers at the sharpest end of the disruption.
This isn't a neutral technology question. Freelancers are among the first people whose livelihoods are directly affected by AI. Clients are already using it. Agencies are already replacing junior freelance roles with it. Rates are already under pressure because of it.
Pretending this isn't happening, or waiting for the ethics to be resolved before engaging, isn't an option most freelancers can afford.
We'd rather our community learned to use these tools well — on their own terms, with their eyes open — than got blindsided by them.
We're not cheerleaders for AI. Here's what concerns us:
Data centres use significant energy and water. The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is putting real pressure on local communities and power grids. This is a systemic problem that needs policy solutions, not just individual choices.
Large language models were trained on work created by writers, artists, designers, and developers — often without consent or compensation. That’s a legitimate grievance, and it’s particularly uncomfortable for a community of people who make a living from creative and skilled work.
AI outputs are often confident and wrong. Over-reliance on AI without critical review leads to worse work, not better. Freelancers who use AI as a shortcut rather than a tool will eventually get caught out.
AI benefits tend to flow to those who already have resources, skills, and access. If we’re not intentional about this, it widens gaps rather than closing them.
AI is developing faster than the frameworks to govern it. Questions about alignment, concentration of power, and long-term societal impact deserve serious attention — not just from researchers and policymakers, but from everyone whose work and lives these systems touch.
We hold these concerns seriously. We don't think they're reasons to disengage — we think they're reasons to engage more carefully.
AI is a unique technology. Not just an incremental improvement, but something that fundamentally changes what a single person can do. For freelancers who bring creativity, judgment, and deep expertise to their work, the opportunities are extraordinary.
A freelance designer can now prototype in hours what used to take weeks. A copywriter can research and draft at a scale that was previously impossible without a team. A consultant can analyse data, model scenarios, and deliver insights that would have required an entire department.
For freelancers who care about doing good, this matters even more. The causes and organisations we serve are often under-resourced. If we can bring more to the table — more creativity, more rigour, more impact — by working intelligently with these tools, that's outsized good we couldn't have done before.
The organisations that hire freelancers are adopting AI whether freelancers do or not. Understanding these tools — their strengths, their limits, their risks — is now a professional necessity. We’d rather equip our community than leave them exposed.
You can use a tool while advocating for it to be built and governed better. These aren’t contradictory positions. In fact, informed users are better advocates than abstainers.
There’s a meaningful difference between using AI to do faster, lazier work and using it to take on more impactful work. We encourage the latter. AI should free up your time and judgment for the things that actually need a human — not replace the thinking.
Beyond the immediate practical concerns, there are deeper questions about how AI is developed, governed, and controlled. We don’t think freelancers need to become AI safety experts, but we do think informed awareness of the bigger picture makes for better decisions about how you engage with these tools day to day.
We don’t have all the answers. Nobody does. We’re committed to keeping this conversation open in our community — not as a one-off debate but as a continuing thread as the technology and its impacts evolve.
We share many of the concerns raised by AI critics. But we serve a community of working freelancers who need practical guidance now, not a resolved ethical framework that may take years to emerge. We can hold both: engage with the tools today, push for better standards tomorrow.
Learn what these tools can and can’t do.
Don’t outsource your thinking. Check AI outputs. Understand the limitations.
Be transparent with clients about your use of AI. Don’t pass off AI-generated work as purely your own.
The environmental, labour, and social concerns are real. Bring them into the conversation. Challenge us. Challenge each other. That’s what this community is for.
We all define ‘good’ differently, and not everyone will agree with this position — that’s fine. Some members will use AI extensively. Some will use it minimally. Some may choose not to use it at all. All of those positions are welcome here, as long as the conversation stays constructive.
We welcome discussion on all of this in our Slack community. This is a conversation, not a policy document — and it'll keep evolving as we learn.
We think the biggest risk for freelancers who care about doing good isn't that they'll use AI — it's that they won't, and they'll lose the ability to compete for the work that matters most.
We'd rather have a community of informed, critical, thoughtful AI users than one that opts out and gets left behind.
The conversation about how to do this responsibly is one we're committed to having. Loudly, openly, and honestly.
1,000+ freelancers navigating this together. Come and be part of it.