#Upwork
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
mostlysignssomeportents · 5 months ago
Text
AI’s productivity theater
Tumblr media
Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!
Tumblr media
When I took my kid to New Zealand with me on a book-tour, I was delighted to learn that grocery stores had special aisles where all the kids'-eye-level candy had been removed, to minimize nagging. What a great idea!
Related: countries around the world limit advertising to children, for two reasons:
1) Kids may not be stupid, but they are inexperienced, and that makes them gullible; and
2) Kids don't have money of their own, so their path to getting the stuff they see in ads is nagging their parents, which creates a natural constituency to support limits on kids' advertising (nagged parents).
There's something especially annoying about ads targeted at getting credulous people to coerce or torment other people on behalf of the advertiser. For example, AI companies spent millions targeting your boss in an effort to convince them that you can be replaced with a chatbot that absolutely, positively cannot do your job.
Your boss has no idea what your job entails, and is (not so) secretly convinced that you're a featherbedding parasite who only shows up for work because you fear the breadline, and not because your job is a) challenging, or b) rewarding:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/19/make-them-afraid/#fear-is-their-mind-killer
That makes them prime marks for chatbot-peddling AI pitchmen. Your boss would love to fire you and replace you with a chatbot. Chatbots don't unionize, they don't backtalk about stupid orders, and they don't experience any inconvenient moral injury when ordered to enshittify the product:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/25/moral-injury/#enshittification
Bosses are Bizarro-world Marxists. Like Marxists, your boss's worldview is organized around the principle that every dollar you take home in wages is a dollar that isn't available for executive bonuses, stock buybacks or dividends. That's why you boss is insatiably horny for firing you and replacing you with software. Software is cheaper, and it doesn't advocate for higher wages.
That makes your boss such an easy mark for AI pitchmen, which explains the vast gap between the valuation of AI companies and the utility of AI to the customers that buy those companies' products. As an investor, buying shares in AI might represent a bet the usefulness of AI – but for many of those investors, backing an AI company is actually a bet on your boss's credulity and contempt for you and your job.
But bosses' resemblance to toddlers doesn't end with their credulity. A toddler's path to getting that eye-height candy-bar goes through their exhausted parents. Your boss's path to realizing the productivity gains promised by an AI salesman runs through you.
A new research report from the Upwork Research Institute offers a look into the bizarre situation unfolding in workplaces where bosses have been conned into buying AI and now face the challenge of getting it to work as advertised:
https://www.upwork.com/research/ai-enhanced-work-models
The headline findings tell the whole story:
96% of bosses expect that AI will make their workers more productive;
85% of companies are either requiring or strongly encouraging workers to use AI;
49% of workers have no idea how AI is supposed to increase their productivity;
77% of workers say using AI decreases their productivity.
Working at an AI-equipped workplaces is like being the parent of a furious toddler who has bought a million Sea Monkey farms off the back page of a comic book, and is now destroying your life with demands that you figure out how to get the brine shrimp he ordered from a notorious Holocaust denier to wear little crowns like they do in the ad:
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2004/hitler-and-sea-monkeys
Bosses spend a lot of time thinking about your productivity. The "productivity paradox" shows a rapid, persistent decline in American worker productivity, starting in the 1970s and continuing to this day:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_paradox
The "paradox" refers to the growth of IT, which is sold as a productivity-increasing miracle. There are many theories to explain this paradox. One especially good theory came from the late David Graeber (rest in power), in his 2012 essay, "Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit":
https://thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit
Graeber proposes that the growth of IT was part of a wider shift in research approaches. Research was once dominated by weirdos (e.g. Jack Parsons, Oppenheimer, etc) who operated with relatively little red tape. The rise of IT coincides with the rise of "managerialism," the McKinseyoid drive to monitor, quantify and – above all – discipline the workforce. IT made it easier to generate these records, which also made it normal to expect these records.
Before long, every employee – including the "creatives" whose ideas were credited with the productivity gains of the American century until the 70s – was spending a huge amount of time (sometimes the majority of their working days) filling in forms, documenting their work, and generally producing a legible account of their day's work. All this data gave rise to a ballooning class of managers, who colonized every kind of institution – not just corporations, but also universities and government agencies, which were structured to resemble corporations (down to referring to voters or students as "customers").
Even if you think all that record-keeping might be useful, there's no denying that the more time you spend documenting your work, the less time you have to do your work. The solution to this was inevitably more IT, sold as a way to make the record-keeping easier. But adding IT to a bureaucracy is like adding lanes to a highway: the easier it is to demand fine-grained record-keeping, the more record-keeping will be demanded of you.
But that's not all that IT did for the workplace. There are a couple areas in which IT absolutely increased the profitability of the companies that invested in it.
First, IT allowed corporations to outsource production to low-waged countries in the global south, usually places with worse labor protection, weaker environmental laws, and easily bribed regulators. It's really hard to produce things in factories thousands of miles away, or to oversee remote workers in another country. But IT makes it possible to annihilate distance, time zone gaps, and language barriers. Corporations that figured out how to use IT to fire workers at home and exploit workers and despoil the environment in distant lands thrived. Executives who oversaw these projects rose through the ranks. For example, Tim Cook became the CEO of Apple thanks to his successes in moving production out of the USA and into China.
https://archive.is/M17qq
Outsourcing provided a sugar high that compensated for declining productivity…for a while. But eventually, all the gains to be had from outsourcing were realized, and companies needed a new source of cheap gains. That's where "bossware" came in: the automation of workforce monitoring and discipline. Bossware made it possible to monitor workers at the finest-grained levels, measuring everything from keystrokes to eyeball movements.
What's more, the declining power of the American worker – a nice bonus of the project to fire huge numbers of workers and ship their jobs overseas, which made the remainder terrified of losing their jobs and thus willing to eat a rasher of shit and ask for seconds – meant that bossware could be used to tie wages to metrics. It's not just gig workers who don't score consistent five star ratings from app users whose pay gets docked – it's also creative workers whose Youtube and Tiktok wages are cut for violating rules that they aren't allowed to know, because that might help them break the rules without being detected and punished:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/13/solidarity-forever/#tech-unions
Bossware dominates workplaces from public schools to hospitals, restaurants to call centers, and extends to your home and car, if you're working from home (AKA "living at work") or driving for Uber or Amazon:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/02/chickenized-by-arise/#arise
In providing a pretense for stealing wages, IT can increase profits, even as it reduces productivity:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/11/robots-stole-my-jerb/#computer-says-no
One way to think about how this works is through the automation-theory metaphor of a "centaur" and a "reverse centaur." In automation circles, a "centaur" is someone who is assisted by an automation tool – for example, when your boss uses AI to monitor your eyeballs in order to find excuses to steal your wages, they are a centaur, a human head atop a machine body that does all the hard work, far in excess of any human's capacity.
A "reverse centaur" is a worker who acts as an assistant to an automation system. The worker who is ridden by an AI that monitors their eyeballs, bathroom breaks, and keystrokes is a reverse centaur, being used (and eventually, used up) by a machine to perform the tasks that the machine can't perform unassisted:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men
But there's only so much work you can squeeze out of a human in this fashion before they are ruined for the job. Amazon's internal research reveals that the company has calculated that it ruins workers so quickly that it is in danger of using up every able-bodied worker in America:
https://www.vox.com/recode/23170900/leaked-amazon-memo-warehouses-hiring-shortage
Which explains the other major findings from the Upwork study:
81% of bosses have increased the demands they make on their workers over the past year; and
71% of workers are "burned out."
Bosses' answer to "AI making workers feel burned out" is the same as "IT-driven form-filling makes workers unproductive" – do more of the same, but go harder. Cisco has a new product that tries to detect when workers are about to snap after absorbing abuse from furious customers and then gives them a "Zen" moment in which they are showed a "soothing" photo of their family:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ai-bringing-zen-first-horizons-192010166.html
This is just the latest in a series of increasingly sweaty and cruel "workplace wellness" technologies that spy on workers and try to help them "manage their stress," all of which have the (totally predictable) effect of increasing workplace stress:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/15/wellness-taylorism/#sick-of-spying
The only person who wouldn't predict that being closely monitored by an AI that snitches on you to your boss would increase your stress levels is your boss. Unfortunately for you, AI pitchmen know this, too, and they're more than happy to sell your boss the reverse-centaur automation tool that makes you want to die, and then sell your boss another automation tool that is supposed to restore your will to live.
The "productivity paradox" is being resolved before our eyes. American per-worker productivity fell because it was more profitable to ship American jobs to regulatory free-fire zones and exploit the resulting precarity to abuse the workers left onshore. Workers who resented this arrangement were condemned for having a shitty "work ethic" – even as the number of hours worked by the average US worker rose by 13% between 1976 and 2016:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/11/robots-stole-my-jerb/#computer-says-no
AI is just a successor gimmick at the terminal end of 40 years of increasing profits by taking them out of workers' hides rather than improving efficiency. That arrangement didn't come out of nowhere: it was a direct result of a Reagan-era theory of corporate power called "consumer welfare." Under the "consumer welfare" approach to antitrust, monopolies were encouraged, provided that they used their market power to lower wages and screw suppliers, while lowering costs to consumers.
"Consumer welfare" supposed that we could somehow separate our identities as "workers" from our identities as "shoppers" – that our stagnating wages and worsening conditions ceased mattering to us when we clocked out at 5PM (or, you know, 9PM) and bought a $0.99 Meal Deal at McDonald's whose low, low price was only possible because it was cooked by someone sleeping in their car and collecting food-stamps.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/20/disneyland-workers-anaheim-california-authorize-strike
But we're reaching the end of the road for consumer welfare. Sure, your toddler-boss can be tricked into buying AI and firing half of your co-workers and demanding that the remainder use AI to do their jobs. But if AI can't do their jobs (it can't), no amount of demanding that you figure out how to make the Sea Monkeys act like they did in the comic-book ad is doing to make that work.
As screwing workers and suppliers produces fewer and fewer gains, companies are increasingly turning on their customers. It's not just that you're getting worse service from chatbots or the humans who are reverse-centaured into their workflow. You're also paying more for that, as algorithmic surveillance pricing uses automation to gouge you on prices in realtime:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/24/gouging-the-all-seeing-eye/#i-spy
This is – in the memorable phrase of David Dayen and Lindsay Owens, the "age of recoupment," in which companies end their practice of splitting the gains from suppressing labor with their customers:
https://prospect.org/economy/2024-06-03-age-of-recoupment/
It's a bet that the tolerance for monopolies made these companies too big to fail, and that means they're too big to jail, so they can cheat their customers as well as their workers.
AI may be a bet that your boss can be suckered into buying a chatbot that can't do your job, but investors are souring on that bet. Goldman Sachs, who once trumpeted AI as a multi-trillion dollar sector with unlimited growth, is now publishing reports describing how companies who buy AI can't figure out what to do with it:
https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/gs-research/gen-ai-too-much-spend-too-little-benefit/report.pdf
Fine, investment banks are supposed to be a little conservative. But VCs? They're the ones with all the appetite for risk, right? Well, maybe so, but Sequoia Capital, a top-tier Silicon Valley VC, is also publicly questioning whether anyone will make AI investments pay off:
https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/ais-600b-question/
I can't tell you how great it was to take my kid down a grocery checkout aisle from which all the eye-level candy had been removed. Alas, I can't figure out how we keep the nation's executive toddlers from being dazzled by shiny AI pitches that leave us stuck with the consequences of their impulse purchases.
Tumblr media
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/25/accountability-sinks/#work-harder-not-smarter
Tumblr media
Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg
CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
463 notes · View notes
bitchesgetriches · 3 months ago
Note
Hi! Would you guys recommend Upwork or Fiverr or any of those sites for graphic design work? I've never used any but I'm interested in doing some small jobs but i don't know how effective and trustworthy they are
Typically we don't love those sites because the pricing model tends to devalue the work of freelancers. HOWEVER, if you're just starting out they can be a great place to build your portfolio with small jobs and meet clients that you can then use to build your client base outside of those sites.
Here's more:
Stop Undervaluing Your Freelance Work, You Darling Fool
Should Artists Ever Work for Free? 
Season 4, Episode 10: “I’m a Freelance Artist. How Do I Price My Work Fairly Without Losing Clients?” 
Freelancer, Protect Thyself... With a Fair Contract 
Becoming a Millennial Entrepreneur (In the Midst of a Pandemic) With Katelyn Magnuson 
11 Awful Mistakes I Made as a Self-employed Freelancer, and How You Can Avoid Them 
Did we just help you out? Join our Patreon!
27 notes · View notes
prettyquickpoetry · 1 year ago
Text
To all other editors and ghostwriters:
There’s apparently this $2000 online course called Fiction Profits Academy ‘teaching’ people how to make tons of passive income on Amazon as an ‘author’ by outsourcing everything. They’re being taught to squeeze writers and editors for everything they’ve got for the lowest possible price.
The students have flooded Upwork. You’ve probably seen all the many listings for ghost writing with infinitesimal budgets popping up. STAY AWAY.
These people are trying to flood the self publishing market with the sole purpose of making money. They are going to drive the cost of work way down, negatively affecting all freelancers whether they work directly with an FPA student or not.
I don’t know what makes them think this is a good idea. Authors who actually write books themselves and publish with the purpose of sharing their stories barely break even.
Readers aren’t stupid. They can tell if your story has heart or not, and these people trying to pay $300 for an entire novel? There’s no heart in that.
So good luck to these students, many of whom are already $10k+ in the red. And good luck to the freelancers they’re bleeding dry.
107 notes · View notes
mdabdurrajjakmia · 3 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
Queston: How long does it take to see results from SEO?
ans: SEO Optimization is a long-term strategy, and significant improvements in search rankings and site traffic may take several weeks or even months to materialize. However, rest assured that our SEO strategies are crafted for quick and effective delivery of quality results.
-
3 notes · View notes
posted-en-route · 2 months ago
Text
4 notes · View notes
softitinstitute · 2 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
4 notes · View notes
desmondemmanuel22 · 6 months ago
Text
Content writer/Blog writing/script writing
Hello
My name is Desmond Emmanuel and I'm an intermediate content writer on upwork
4 notes · View notes
maryroselle-gig-genius · 5 months ago
Text
Introduction to GigGenius Website
GigGenius is a fresh freelance marketplace where talented individuals meet business owners. It's a place where freelancers show off their skills and businesses find the right people for their projects.
Special Features of GigGenius
Connecting Talent: GigGenius links skilled individuals with businesses, creating win-win situations.
Interactive Platform: It offers a lively space for freelancers and business owners to connect and work together effectively.
Skill Display: Freelancers can showcase their abilities, making it easier for them to attract potential clients.
Job Opportunities: Businesses can discover qualified professionals for their tasks, ensuring top-notch results.
Advantages of Using GigGenius
Efficient Networking: GigGenius makes networking between freelancers and businesses smooth and hassle-free.
Quality Assurance: The platform guarantees quality by providing access to vetted professionals with proven skills.
Flexibility: Freelancers enjoy the freedom to choose projects that match their interests and skills, boosting productivity.
Cost-Effective Solutions: Businesses can save costs by hiring freelancers for specific projects, avoiding long-term commitments.
Future Outlook for GigGenius
As a newcomer in the freelance market, GigGenius has the potential to revolutionize the industry with its innovative approach to talent sourcing. With its user-friendly design and focus on quality connections, GigGenius is set to become a key player in the freelance economy, offering a reliable platform for freelancers and businesses to connect and collaborate successfully.
Whether you're a freelancer eager to showcase your talents or a business owner in search of skilled professionals, GigGenius provides a promising platform to meet your needs and foster successful partnerships.
2 notes · View notes
savarict · 6 months ago
Text
Savar Freelancing Institute
Freelancing for life
Tumblr media
2 notes · View notes
serverbeast · 7 months ago
Text
I will work on wordpress website design and development
Thanks for stopping at my online shop
I serve my expertise your business effective worldwide Internet exposure at low prices. professional and modern WordPress Website Designer. I complete all my project with absolute devotion and perfection. I customize Responsive WordPress Website regularly and can help customize yours, so you can get your site up and running.
So here are the services you will get from me:
After Sales Service
Speed Optimization
Professional themes
E-Commerce Setup
Secure Admin Panel
Forms & package creator
Shopify Stores
Backup Files
Secure content
Repair, redesign and fixing of existing sites
Note : If you have any questions watch contact me now.
ORDER NOW : https://www.fiverr.com/s/o3b5lb
Tumblr media
3 notes · View notes
kreeture-19 · 2 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
It's terribly disheartening when you realize the only people showing genuine interest in you are scammers.
I checked my emails this morning to see that someone on Upwork had invited me to interview for a job. However, when I looked into it, I quickly realized it was a scam and blocked/reported them.
The worst part is, I was suddenly so excited, so hopeful, only for it to be ripped away just as quickly.
On a lighter note, the dimensions of this image ended up being 666px by 666px, so that's fun.
20 notes · View notes
playfulsparksp · 9 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
🐾😺 Happy National Siamese Cat Day! 🎉🐈 Let's celebrate these elegant and affectionate felines known for their striking blue eyes and vocal personalities. Whether they're curled up in your lap or exploring their surroundings with curiosity, Siamese cats bring joy and companionship to our lives. Share a photo of your beloved Siamese cat and give them some extra love today! 💙😻 www.playfulsparks.com #NationalSiameseCatDay #SiameseCat #CatDay #SiameseLove #BlueEyes #FelineFriends #CatLovers #CatCompanions #Meow #Caturday #PetCelebration #CatLife #CatsofInstagram #KittyLove #PurrfectCompanion #PlayfulSparks #forhire #lookingfor #upwork #childrensbook
2 notes · View notes
jofis-stuff · 9 months ago
Text
I didn't start the week with the best vibes, but the day improved. I'm very happy because today I got my first client on Upwork; tomorrow, I'll start working on their order. Excited and a bit anxious. Hopefully, everything goes well.
On the other hand, I'm feeling sentimental because I miss him since the weekend. At the moment, I was very cheerful, but today I'm experiencing the "rebound effect" and I miss him. I wish we could be hugging for a little longer. He's still the person who, just with his presence, brings me peace.
Tomorrow, I'll try to go to a café or coworking space so I won't get distracted at home, and I want to make some stickers for a delivery I'll be making on Wednesday. I sold a personalized sublimated t-shirt to an acquaintance's daughter and her girlfriend, and I'll be delivering it on Wednesday. I want to add some extra details for trusting me.
Today, I have a lot of feelings swirling around.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
4 notes · View notes
seofreelancer49 · 9 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
Establish your SEO objectives upfront to align with best SEO freelancers. Determine if you seek higher rankings or enhanced traffic. Explore various platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, or industry-specific forums like Pro Blogger. Assess candidates based on their portfolio, client testimonials, SEO proficiency, communication abilities, and fair pricing negotiation. Request detailed proposals to ensure alignment with your project needs.
2 notes · View notes
highgodstoresl · 10 months ago
Text
Second Life Mesh Creation
Second Life custom mesh creation is now available!
Second Life custom mesh creation is now available. Select from a 3-tier service package for 3D design. Custom mesh will be uniquely designed to your specifications. Have your product design contracted by a professional freelancer. Learn more detail about Second Life Mesh Creation service here: Required freelance service outside of the Second Life platform. Then contact an associated contractor…
Tumblr media
View On WordPress
2 notes · View notes
ourincrediblejourney · 11 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
30 November 2023:
As of November 29, 2023, Headroom has been acquired by Upwork. This acquisition will help the Headroom team to expand their mission beyond video collaboration to tackle all Future of Work with the largest talent marketplace. They will continue to innovate in multimodal generative AI, affective computing, and real-time communication across all aspects of virtual collaboration to help companies and individuals be more effective and productive at what they do. Dworkz congratulates Headroom on this acquisition!
4 December 2023 (or earlier):
As of November 29, 2023 Headroom has been acquired and the Headroom product is no longer available. ‍ Thank you for believing in our vision and we appreciate your support. All of your meeting data will no longer be available and has been safely discarded.
(Thanks, Dan Mercer)
4 notes · View notes