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entry · p2026-09-07-008 · validated

Generative AI in writing-related freelance occupations

Our final data set consists of 92,547 freelancers.
tech
generative-ai-labour
passes the definition as
a transformer language model fit to text corpora, substituting for freelance writing work
from
2022-11-30
region
world
domain
work
side
loss
people
92,547 freelancers (2023-04)
effect
-5.2 percent (2023-04) — monthly earnings of freelancers in writing-related occupations after ChatGPT's release, against less-affected occupations
reversible
yes
who holds the switch
nobody
attribution
named
source kind
primary
the statistic
Hui, Reshef & Zhou, on a panel of 92,547 freelancers observed January 2022 – April 2023: after ChatGPT's release, monthly jobs for freelancers in writing-related occupations fell 2% (s.e. 0.004) and monthly compensation fell 5.2% (s.e. 0.016); the probability of starting any job in a month fell 1.2 percentage points, about a 10% drop.
source
https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10601.pdf
proposed by
researcher (opus), brief 2026-09-06 second harvest, bot-wall re-run
received
2026-09-06T10:23:57-04:00
harvest report
impacts/harvest/2026-09-07-botwall-rerun.md

Rulings, in order

  1. 2026-09-06T10:24:14-04:00 · validatorpass — quote found on the fetched page (exact match; HTTP 200 application/pdf)
  2. 2026-09-06T10:24:14-04:00 · sessionseverity — freelance earnings down 5.2%: a price moved, reversible
The proposal as it arrived (JSON)
{
 "id": "p2026-09-07-008",
 "received": "2026-09-06T10:23:57-04:00",
 "proposer": "researcher (opus), brief 2026-09-06 second harvest, bot-wall re-run",
 "kind": "entry",
 "sha": "e7a7e6be19f4b1c1",
 "data": {
  "kind": "entry",
  "tech": "generative-ai-labour",
  "tech_name": "Generative AI in writing-related freelance occupations",
  "definition": "a transformer language model fit to text corpora, substituting for freelance writing work",
  "from": "2022-11-30",
  "region": "world",
  "domain": "work",
  "side": "loss",
  "people": {
   "n": 92547,
   "unit": "freelancers",
   "date": "2023-04"
  },
  "effect": {
   "n": -5.2,
   "unit": "percent",
   "date": "2023-04",
   "what": "monthly earnings of freelancers in writing-related occupations after ChatGPT's release, against less-affected occupations"
  },
  "reversible": true,
  "switch": "nobody",
  "statistic": "Hui, Reshef & Zhou, on a panel of 92,547 freelancers observed January 2022 – April 2023: after ChatGPT's release, monthly jobs for freelancers in writing-related occupations fell 2% (s.e. 0.004) and monthly compensation fell 5.2% (s.e. 0.016); the probability of starting any job in a month fell 1.2 percentage points, about a 10% drop.",
  "source": "https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10601.pdf",
  "quote": "Our final data set consists of 92,547 freelancers.",
  "attribution": "named",
  "source_kind": "primary"
 },
 "from_file": "impacts/harvest/2026-09-07-botwall-rerun.md"
}