Special Report :
Payoneer, a financial services company that provides online money transfer and digital payment services to freelancers, ranked Bangladesh as the eighth largest freelancing service provider globally by number of workers in the field.
State Minister for ICT, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, has announced recently that Bangladesh currently earns $1.9 billion from freelancing, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina aims to boost this figure to $5 billion within the next five years. Freelancing thus is already contributing a significant part to our forex earnings with significant upwards potential.
Recent developments in artificial intelligence, however, is causing a sea change in the freelancing market with many such jobs in line to be eliminated.
A 2023 study, recently updated last week and co-authored by a Harvard Business School fellow along with academics from Germany and England, found that in the eight months following the release of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence based online service, freelance jobs susceptible to automation, such as those related to writing and coding, declined by 21 per cent.
The authors noted that the demand for such jobs is expected to continue decreasing. After migrant work remittances, freelancing may be Bangladesh’s next big forex earner.
According to the study, the decline in these types of jobs has been particularly pronounced in the areas of data processing, content creation, and software development.
While some may view this trend as alarming, others see it as an opportunity for freelancers to upskill and adapt to the changing job market. Large Language Models such as the one used in ChatGPT for example can generate code based on plain English text that are both efficient and precise supporting most popular programming languages.
Not just code generation, image generation and editing, textual content creation, and even video can be created using text prompts in plain English using AI.
“Freelancers who can harness the power of AI to enhance their offerings are not only surviving but thriving in this new era,” said the lead author of the study. “However, it is crucial that the government, universities, and private sector work together to equip the workforce with the necessary AI skills to stay competitive.”
While AI is automating many routine tasks, it is also creating new opportunities for freelancers who can adapt and leverage this technology. The study suggests that freelancers focus on the following areas to stay competitive:
Valuable lessons can be drawn from India’s approach to AI investment and integration.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), India is set to spend $6 billion on AI by 2027, with AI and Generative AI (GenAI) adoption reshaping the country’s technological landscape.
IDC forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 33.7 per cent from 2022 to 2027 for AI expenditures in India, driven by a focus on boosting productivity, enhancing customer experiences, and creating new revenue streams.
To harness opportunities provided by AI, Bangladesh government has launched several initiatives aimed at developing the country’s capabilities over past few years.
These include investing in skill development programmes, collaborating with international institutions and tech companies to develop specialized AI programmes, and encouraging universities to incorporate AI into their curricula. However more needs to be done at school and university levels to train future professionals.
In a significant move towards AI education, the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) has made it mandatory for all its graduates, regardless of their major, to take a Python programming course.
The programming language also happens to be the most widely used for AI. This initiative underscores the critical role of Python in AI and aims to equip students with essential skills for the evolving job market.
Overall, while the rise of AI may be causing disruption in certain areas of the freelance economy, it also presents opportunities for growth and innovation. With investments in startups that saw a 70 per cent decline in the first quarter of this year in Bangladesh, a significant decline in the multi-billion dollar earning freelancing industry will be catastrophic.