Do you love AI or do you think it’s going to destroy the world? Perhaps you’re on the fence. Either way, if you’re going to buy a gig on Fiverr and you DON’T want generative AI’s roboprints all over it, then you need to read this.
TL;DR: It’s OK for sellers to sell AI-produced stuff without disclosing it. If you don’t ask them not to do it, then that’s your problem. (So you should read this article and learn how to to avoid that situation and understand why Fiverr has made it this way!)
Remember the world before COVID-19? It was a world where ChatGPT didn’t exist. In fact, ChatGPT didn’t exist until late 2022, just a few months after MidJourney.
(Perhaps this is just me, but the world seemed a lot saner then, too…)
Since then, both of them have become economy-worriers, blamed for mass layoffs here, there, and everywhere. At the same time, the world’s entrepreneurs saw the endless opportunity. Right now, AI is in that awkward space where we know it’s an incredible and potentially amazing technology.
And then there’s the whole Skynet thing.
But right now, you’re just a buyer on Fiverr who would like to purchase something, and you’d rather a human made it the old-fashioned way, just like they did in 2019.
Ah, the good old days before coronavirus and the cost of living crisis.
How hard could it be, right?
Well, not that hard, but in a marketplace of this size, there are always going to be some rotten apples!
How Deep Is AI On Fiverr?
It’s everywhere. There’s an AI search assistant called Fiverr Neo. There are dozens of sub-categories clearly marked as AI. Fiverr has integrated AI into its levels and rating system.
Countless sellers have quietly rewritten their gig descriptions using AI. Many also use AI for their communications. Fiverr’s staff use AI to write their less important marketing collateral and news collateral. It’s easy, it sounds professional, it writes better than them, and it’s free.
This isn’t just a Fiverr thing; it’s happening everywhere. In all likelihood, you probably use AI for some things yourself. And why not? AI is undeniably incredibly useful for a whole host of things, especially automation.
AI is the worst it’ll ever be today, and it’s rapidly evolving. It’s here to stay, digging itself even deeper into our professional and personal lives. Fiverr’s deep embrace of AI reflects a global trend.
What Is Fiverr’s AI Policy?
Fiverr has a page dedicated to the use of AI-generated content on its platform. If you’re a buyer who specifically wants to avoid sellers who use AI to create art, write content, or produce videos, the policy is clear:
Buyers should communicate their preference with sellers
When considering services that may or may not use generative AI tools or programs, buyers with a preference for work created and/or delivered without the use of generative AI tools or programs, should clearly communicate this preference to the seller.
Fiverr Community Standards, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Generated Content
In other words, it’s best to check before you buy. The situation is a little murkier if you order without checking but mention your preference in your initial requirements. The platform does discourage “misuse or unethical behavior related to generative AI”.
Sellers Don’t Always Tell the Truth
The problem isn’t so much Fiverr’s policy, but rather, some of its sellers. A seller who needs work may simply tell you what you want to hear to make a sale, banking on the hope that you won’t notice.
Other sellers may simply not have any real ability and rely on AI to deliver their service. There’s nothing strictly wrong with this. In my opinion, so long as the seller openly discloses this on their gig or by posting their gig in the relevant category, it’s all good.
We all have to start somewhere – and someone who is at least transparent about their situation should get some credit.
It’s the sellers who have no real abilities and use AI secretly, lying about their talents that are the problem.
This was a problem before AI, but generative AI just made it a lot easier for a lot of people to pretend.
Buyers MUST Ask Sellers If They Use AI
That’s all you need to do to protect yourself as a buyer. Even if you don’t think the seller will use AI, or their gig description proudly announces that all their work is 100% human, ask.
People lie, and Fiverr’s stacked the odds in sellers’ favor. Trust is a wonderful thing, but in this case, you may not realize a seller uses AI until after you get the work.
Now, you could ask for a refund, but you’ll be depending on the seller to agree with this. Fiverr’s Customer Support may help, but they may also remind you of their AI policy.
Asking first – whether the seller answers truthfully or not – puts you in a much better position.
Because it forces deceptive sellers to tell you the truth – or lie. No matter what Fiverr’s AI policies are, they hold sellers to their service promises and the platform will cancel orders where sellers do not deliver what they promise.
Fiverr Sellers Are Divided About Use Of AI
Pro-AI Sellers
Some sellers, notably led by Fiverr influencers like Alexandra Fasulo, have embraced artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI. A casual Google search will reveal hundreds of “make money online” style articles celebrating AI as a get-rich-quick method to succeed on Fiverr.
Fasulo – who frequently feeds her followers so-called easy ways to make money on Fiverr type content, sums up the AI on Fiverr gold rush neatly:
There’s very little consideration for the buyer’s needs, just easy seller profits. Of course, buyers are not her audience, but her audience is coming into contact with buyers with the wrong mindset; you’re the moneybags!
Fasulo can say all this so easily because it is legitimized by Fiverr’s own AI adventures. It is videos and articles like this that are partly responsible for the deceptive AI undercurrents on the Fiverr marketplace today. While these creators often focus on the openly AI categories of Fiverr, there is far more potential for profit in quiet AI: and that’s the problem with the get-rich-quick mindset.
Some sellers have done very well from this method, making millions of dollars delivering undisclosed AI content to thousands of unwary buyers. How many more are doing this on a much smaller scale? There’s gold in them thar AI hills – fail to check, and you may receive fools gold rather than the real deal.
Anti-AI Sellers
Other sellers view Fiverr’s AI embrace with deep suspicion (here’s an example from r/Fiverr, pictured just above). One of the biggest themes around AI globally is how it is going to take all of our jobs. If not today, then in the not-too-distant future. The first half of 2023 was a terrible time for many freelance writers, with many businesses exploring ChatGPT’s article-writing abilities over hiring a writer.
SEO articles, a cheap and cheerful mainstay of the writing industry, has also been hit hard. On industry Facebook groups, you’ll often see SEO marketers amazed at the change:
It is this idea that buyers are “suckers” for paying for human writing when they can get it for free that has killed many writing careers. After all, many agencies outsource their work to Fiverr sellers. If a $15 writer can deliver $200 content, why not?
At the higher end of the market where quality matters, the disruption is felt, but not quite so seismic.
AI was disruptive to the cheapest end of the Fiverr market over 2023, and that trend isn’t going to change any time soon. If anything, 2024 is shaping up to be the year of AI videos. Just look at the quality of 100% AI-generated videos from OpenAI’s new Sora model:
As with all disruptions, sellers need to adapt or die. Complaining only delays the inevitable. This brings us to the synthesis – the type of seller that Fiverr buyers should be looking to work with, whatever their personal feelings on AI.
Balanced AI Sellers
In between these two very vocal groups, there are the sellers who take a more balanced approach to generative AI on Fiverr. AI is just a tool, albeit a powerful one. As a tool, it’s only as good as the person’s ability to use it.
I use AI every day, mostly for research through Perplexity search engine (it’s amazing compared to Google!). Sometimes I ask ChatGPT quick questions. Sometimes I get outline ideas. I use other AI tools to turn long videos into summarized transcripts. The list is really endless.
When it comes to my writing services on Fiverr, I use these tools. Why wouldn’t I? AI speeds up my workflow and helps me to write better content. But the one thing I never do is use AI to actually write.
If anything, ChatGPT’s writing seems to be getting worse over time.
On Fiverr, I don’t disclose that I use AI, because my final product isn’t AI. It’s written by me, a human. But if asked, I will happily explain how AI helps me to write the article. With that said, I am moving my gigs over to a full disclosure policy where I explain how AI is integrated into my workflow.
It saves buyers a question, and me an answer – and as AI continues to evolve, I believe disclosure is important.
I leave it up to the buyer to decide if that’s something they’re happy to work with or not. Most are, since the article is the end product; if AI can help me to deliver that faster without increasing the price, that’s a win.
People who are learning to use AI as a tool rather than the end are those who, in my opinion, are succeeding. AI isn’t quite there when it comes to finished products, at least not without human intervention.
And if you look more closely at Fiverr’s advertising and movement in the space, that is exactly what the company is promoting. Fiverr understands that AI is a threat to its own business model, so it is adapting in the only sensible way. It has good reason to. According to VentureBeat, Fiverr saw a 1,400% increase in AI-related searches. That was in January 2023, just around the time that people started to discover ChatGPT’s big box of tricks.
All You Have to Do Is Ask, Don’t Wait to Be Told
Fiverr has chosen its AI path, and sellers who want to succeed on the platform are also adapting to a world where AI not only helps them, but also competes with them. There are no real rules yet. Whether we’re buying or selling, we are all walking on an unfamiliar path.
I can’t say I love Fiverr’s current AI policy, since it leaves the door open to scams and opportunists. But on the other hand, caveat emptor (buyer beware) has existed for thousands of years. If you don’t want AI-generated work, make sure that you contact sellers before ordering and check with them.
Since you should be vetting Fiverr sellers already, this is easy to work into your usual questions. It’s takes very little time to ask, and it will protect you and your ability to cancel an order if your seller isn’t honest. Just take some time to consider how much use of AI is acceptable to you, because at some point in the near future, this question may well be a redundant one as everyone uses AI to fulfil some small part of the final output.
But for now, a simple question will do just fine if your seller isn’t already openly disclosing their use of AI.
