By admin 
Depending on who you ask, AI is the future, or it’s a dangerous, powerful weapon that must be stopped at all costs. If you talk to most of our freelance community, the consensus is somewhere in the middle. AI is a tool that can accelerate freelance productivity, which allows you to outsource or expedite certain tasks and frees you to focus more on the work of building your business and dreaming bigger.
But one thing almost everyone can agree on is that for as incredible of a tool as AI may be, we need safeguards in place to ensure that AI is used transparently, ethically, and responsibly. There are a number of consequences to rampant, unchecked use of AI — from the depletion of our water supply, to the stealing of artists’ voices and likenesses to be reproduced without permission or credit, to the very dangerous use of skirting around facial recognition laws to discriminate against minority communities.
A number of states have passed legal measures to limit AI’s most potent threats, and it was a central fight in the hard-won SAG and WGA union strikes of summer 2023. Initially, Trump’s controversial “Big, Beautiful Bill” contained a moratorium that would prevent states from creating or enforcing any AI protections for the next 10 years, which was struck down by Congress before the bill was sent back to the House of Representatives. Still, this attempt from the administration to recklessly advance an AI agenda is one to be wary of.
How AI Can Affect Freelancers — And Why Some Unions Are Pushing Back
As freelancers, we know the importance of a competitive, thriving market. While, as mentioned, AI can be a useful tool, it is not, nor should it be a replacement for human labor or vision — yet still, the job market is seeing an adverse impact. Per a September 2024 study from Washington University and NYU’s Stern School of Business, “for every 1 percent increase in a freelancer’s past earnings, they experience an additional .5 percent drop in job opportunities and a 1.7 percent decrease in monthly income following the introduction of AI technologies.”
And without regulations in place, corporations can more easily employ AI where human judgment is needed. Corners can be cut and mistakes easily made risking not just profits but human lives. Recent pushback from unions have helped prevent AI from hastily being deployed in California hospitals, as well as from replacing dockworkers to automate ports.
Plus, as freelancers, every dollar counts. When a musician’s work is used to train AI, for example, it allows corporations to skirt around paying royalties, saving the corporation money at the price of a freelancer’s livelihood.
Even if the Senate struck down the “Big, Beautiful Bill’s” initial language around AI, it is a clear indicator of the administration’s priorities and a prognosticator of what sort of language may appear in future bills.
What Can You Do About It?
Freelancers make up approximately 38% of the United States workforce. It is vital that we make our voices and concerns about AI heard to our representatives who are here to represent you.
Contact your representatives today and let them know you are in favor of continuing to advance commonsense safeguards against the use of AI, in addition to comprehensive testing of the technology.