{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T02:06:43Z","timestamp":1776132403175,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)","issue":"10","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Management Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p> This paper studies the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies on the demand for online freelancers using a large data set from a leading global freelancing platform. We identify the types of jobs that are more affected by generative AI and quantify the magnitude of the heterogeneous impact. Our findings indicate a 21% decrease in the number of job posts for automation-prone jobs related to writing and coding compared with jobs requiring manual-intensive skills within eight months after the introduction of ChatGPT. We show that the reduction in the number of job posts increases competition among freelancers, whereas the remaining automation-prone jobs are of greater complexity and offer higher pay. We also find that the introduction of image-generating AI technologies led to a 17% decrease in the number of job posts related to image creation. We use Google Trends to show that the more pronounced decline in the demand for freelancers within automation-prone jobs correlates with their higher public awareness of ChatGPT\u2019s substitutability. <\/jats:p><jats:p> This paper was accepted by Duncan Simester, marketing. <\/jats:p><jats:p> Supplemental Material: The online appendices and data files are available at https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1287\/mnsc.2024.05420 . <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2024.05420","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,24]],"date-time":"2025-01-24T10:21:27Z","timestamp":1737714087000},"page":"8097-8108","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":37,"title":["Who Is AI Replacing? The Impact of Generative AI on Online Freelancing Platforms"],"prefix":"10.1287","volume":"71","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-4561-7790","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ozge","family":"Demirci","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Analytics, Marketing and Operations, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom"}]},{"given":"Jonas","family":"Hannane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Firms and Markets Department, DIW, 10117 Berlin, Germany; and Economics and Management, Technische Universit\u00e4t Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3901-4587","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xinrong","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Analytics, Marketing and Operations, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom"}]}],"member":"109","reference":[{"key":"B1","first-page":"1043","volume-title":"Handbook of Labor Economics","volume":"4","author":"Acemoglu D","year":"2011"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.20160696"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/jep.33.2.3"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/705716"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3386\/w26738"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/jep.33.2.31"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226206981.003.0008"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.20190159"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/glob.12051"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1088\/1742-5468\/2008\/10\/P10008"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Brynjolfsson E, Li D, Raymond LR (2023) Generative AI at work. NBER Working Paper No. 31161, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.","DOI":"10.3386\/w31161"},{"key":"B15","first-page":"23","volume-title":"The Economics of Artificial Intelligence: An Agenda","author":"Brynjolfsson E","year":"2018"},{"key":"B16","first-page":"100526","volume":"15","author":"Bucaioni A","year":"2024","journal-title":"Machine Learn. Appl."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jeconom.2020.12.001"},{"key":"B19","author":"Chen J","year":"2023","journal-title":"Quart. J. Econom."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/digital4010005"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.20181169"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijinfomgt.2023.102642"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Eisfeldt AL, Schubert G, Zhang MB (2023) Generative AI and firm values. NBER Working Paper No. 31222, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.","DOI":"10.3386\/w31222"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/smj.3286"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jeconom.2021.03.014"},{"issue":"4","key":"B30","volume":"24","author":"Graham M","year":"2019","journal-title":"First Monday"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.techfore.2018.07.056"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"K\u00e4ssi O, Lehdonvirta V, Stephany F (2021) How many online workers are there in the world? A data-driven assessment. Preprint, submitted March 23, https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2103.12648.","DOI":"10.31235\/osf.io\/78nge"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.adh2586"},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.104.11.3565"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jeconom.2020.06.003"},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jeconom.2020.09.006"}],"container-title":["Management Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1287\/mnsc.2024.05420","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,2]],"date-time":"2025-10-02T12:48:38Z","timestamp":1759409318000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/10.1287\/mnsc.2024.05420"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]},"references-count":28,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1287\/mnsc.2024.05420"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1287\/mnsc.2024.05420","relation":{},"ISSN":["0025-1909","1526-5501"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0025-1909","type":"print"},{"value":"1526-5501","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]}}}