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newsmike

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Like all other businesses, Fiverr is struggling with how to respond to ChatGPT and other AI's that may follow. There are discussions now to discern how Fiverr can harness AI, however there is already one very disturbing trend that you need to be aware of before you buy a service.  

First you must realize that many non English speaking sellers are using ChatGPT to fake proficiency in English. Every day we find and call out many forum posts from sellers who cannot speak 4th grade English who list their proficiency level at "Fluent."

It is now sadly a requirement that if you wish to insure that you will be understood, that you demand a Zoom meeting with your seller prior to ordering, as many will simply fake the answers through ChatGPT. 

An inbox discussion is simply no longer sufficient. 

 

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11 minutes ago, newsmike said:

It is now sadly a requirement that if you wish to insure that you will be understood,

Unfortunately, it's not just a communication issue, it's a quality issue.

In just the past month, I have had numerous buyers come to me to correct and rewrite content written entirely by chatGPT. In all of these cases, the sellers promised that their English fluency was native-level and in all of these cases, the buyers could tell immediately that the work was useless to them.

These buyers were then approaching me with a reduced sense of trust and needed extra "proof" that I was, in fact, fluent in English, and that my writing would be done manually.

Edited by vickieito
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1 minute ago, vickieito said:

the buyer could tell immediately that the work was useless to them.

To be on the cutting edge of this I have just added the following to my gigs:

NEW! Book a 20 minute Zoom meeting to discuss you requirements plus a 25 word sample read for just $100. Message me to book it. Great for agencies or when you need to be 100% sure.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, newsmike said:

NEW! Book a 20 minute Zoom meeting to discuss you requirements plus a 25 word sample read for just $100. Message me to book it. Great for agencies or when you need to be 100% sure.

I almost forgot about the getting paid part!😅 I'm glad you're here to remind me about monetizing things!

Looks like I should get this set up:

Quote

image.thumb.png.13c1369260bf6ea23c07320431088349.png

 

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9 minutes ago, newsmike said:

To be on the cutting edge of this I have just added the following to my gigs:

NEW! Book a 20 minute Zoom meeting to discuss you requirements plus a 25 word sample read for just $100. Message me to book it. Great for agencies or when you need to be 100% sure.

 

 

Great idea! It sounds like this is what we're going to have to start doing. I just cancelled 3 subscriptions from a buyer who wouldn't even post the instructions until they talked to me on Zoom. I told them I couldn't Zoom, and they immediately cancelled it all. I guess now I know why. 

@newsmike Thanks for keeping us in the loop! It's much appreciated!

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7 minutes ago, ashleymahan217 said:

Great idea! It sounds like this is what we're going to have to start doing.

Yes, The desire to worship ChatGPT may well cause a flurry of great sellers to require a Zoom consultation prior to ordering, especially now that we can force conversation prior to an order. From adversity rises opportunity. I need a graphic artist to come up with something to reinforce: "Verify, B4 order." I will consider all offers for our new badge. 

Edited by newsmike
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5 minutes ago, vickieito said:

Done! Now I have paid consultations. (that wasn't so bad, right?) 😊

I wonder how the alerts will go!

Interested to see. If we don't like we can bang on SM's for changes. We are paying for premium services and this is certainly one. 

Edited by newsmike
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3 minutes ago, newsmike said:

Interested to see. If we don't like we can bang on SM's for changes. We are paying for premium services and this is certainly one. 

Right away, I'd like an FAQ section or a bigger description so that I can expand on what is (and is not acceptable) to talk about on Zoom. There was a 200-character limit and it didn't allow me to cover all the reasons for why a buyer might want to schedule a Zoom call with me (to verify the authenticity of the seller, discuss projects, ask quick ESL questions, Q&A, explore the LMS eLearning site or their eCourse together, troubleshooting, etc.).

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2 minutes ago, vickieito said:

Right away, I'd like an FAQ section or a bigger description so that I can expand on what is (and is not acceptable) to talk about on Zoom. There was a 200-character limit and it didn't allow me to cover all the reasons for why a buyer might want to schedule a Zoom call with me (to verify the authenticity of the seller, discuss projects, ask quick ESL questions, Q&A, explore the LMS eLearning site or their eCourse together, troubleshooting, etc.).

I think Seller plus members should have much bigger word limits for description and FAQ's. Again we are paying. 

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8 minutes ago, filipdevaere said:

This is a big problem. I noticed this 2 days ago.

Agreed. This is what Fiverr says:

Quote

image.thumb.png.e1e11b6d40f042c3208bc3a037c33985.pngimage.thumb.png.842647164cab2f4b2dc3f0a895c73768.pngimage.png.69d09e8250b2ad547c336387a7125f42.png

I also want to disclose my hearing impairment to my buyers so that they are aware of that beforehand. It's impossible to do all of that with 200 characters.

These paid consultations are treated the same as any order and buyers can book up to 2 hours in advance:

  • There will be order requirements. However, these are preset questions made by Fiverr (the seller can't add or modify them).
  • If you don't make your call, it's counted the same as not delivering your order.
  • If you cancel the call, it's a cancelation.
  • Delivery dates are set 2 days after the Zoom meeting but if you don't provide the written summary within 10 days, it's a late delivery.
  • Buyers will be able to leave feedback on the Zoom call experience.

You will need to sync to a calendar of your choice and that calendar needs to stay updated. If you have anything on your calendar during the hours of availability that you listed in your Paid Consultations, buyers will not be able to schedule a meeting.

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2 minutes ago, vickieito said:

Agreed. This is what Fiverr says:

I also want to disclose my hearing impairment to my buyers so that they are aware of that beforehand. It's impossible to do all of that with 200 characters.

These paid consultations are treated the same as any order and buyers can book up to 2 hours in advance:

  • There will be order requirements. However, these are preset questions made by Fiverr (the seller can't add or modify them).
  • If you don't make your call, it's counted the same as not delivering your order.
  • If you cancel the call, it's a cancelation.
  • Delivery dates are set 2 days after the Zoom meeting but if you don't provide the written summary within 10 days, it's a late delivery.
  • Buyers will be able to leave feedback on the Zoom call experience.

You will need to sync to a calendar of your choice and that calendar needs to stay updated. If you have anything on your calendar during the hours of availability that you listed in your Paid Consultations, buyers will not be able to schedule a meeting.

That's why I don't use the Fiverr template for this and say, message me for details. Then I control the terms. If I want to I can send a custom offer for the consult, or decline. period. 

Edited by newsmike
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Just now, newsmike said:

That's why I don't use the Fiverr template for this and say, message me for details. Then I control the terms. 

I'd have to agree with you. I'm going to turn off the paid consultations. It's too risky to use. I do have gig extras on all of my gigs offering consultations and I will go with that.

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3 hours ago, newsmike said:

non English speaking sellers are using ChatGPT to fake proficiency in English

Fiverr themselves encouraged sellers to do so on their very first webinar. They told sellers can use chatGPT to help them respond on messages and on the forum to improve “buyer’s experience”…. *mic drop*

Edited by mariashtelle1
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4 hours ago, newsmike said:

NEW! Book a 20 minute Zoom meeting to discuss you requirements plus a 25 word sample read for just $100. Message me to book it. Great for agencies or when you need to be 100% sure.

This is a very good idea, Mike, and if you don't mind I'll add something similar to my own gigs. Have you also set up the paid consultations feature? I haven't as yet because I'm not very comfortable with a giving a third party access to my calendar and personal information. 

Edited by leannelrivers
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I would argue (and hope to one day make a post on it) that you can be fluent (in speech) and not in writing (I'm that way in three languages though I probably could write if I wasn't lazy) but ChaGPT is a bit more of an issue than that. 

I don't think using tools to help with talking to buyers is an issue by itself. The issue is if the reading/writing skills of the sellers is so lacking that they end up misinterpreting things. It's likely for that to be the case, and buyers COULD feel blindsided (which will, again, mess with the site's reputation.) THAT being said, I do have a suspicion that Fiverr is doing this (other than for extra cash) also so that there are rules and limitations. Now how will those work out? 

I don't know. ChatGPT is convinced I'm a graphic designer, and when I try to tell it otherwise, it corrects me, so I don't think I'd ever dare to rely on it! 

(maybe I am though? I might be @mariashtelle1's newest competitor; I just didn't know about it!)

(I'm not. I'm only a writer. I leave art to those who can draw a straight line)

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10 hours ago, vickieito said:
10 hours ago, newsmike said:

NEW! Book a 20 minute Zoom meeting to discuss you requirements plus a 25 word sample read for just $100. Message me to book it. Great for agencies or when you need to be 100% sure.

Expand  

I almost forgot about the getting paid part!😅 I'm glad you're here to remind me about monetizing things!

Looks like I should get this set up

Yes, thanks for those reminders.

This "prove that you won't deliver ChatGPT cr...stuff like that other seller we hired" thing isn't as easy for sellers operating with other languages, though, in my case, it would usually be useless, as I could only prove my fluency in English, but not in the target language, which the content that the buyer will receive is in, and the buyer typically doesn't speak the target language, which is why they are looking to hire me. 

Like Vicky, I also had a "verify yourself, because we got AI stuff from another seller" request recently, and it would have required breaking Fiverr ToS, so, nope. I'd really appreciate it if Fiverr would do something to make buyers acutely aware of the "community only on Fiverr" policy. I wouldn't go as far as asking Fiverr to tell buyers also that they shouldn't expect sellers to send them a scan of their ID, though, as that really should be a given and I probably don't want to work with people who get the idea to ask me for that anyway, but, yeah, a super short version of the most important ToS while signing up or ad banners when people start their account, "communication only on Fiverr" would save both sellers and buyers time and awkwardness.

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8 hours ago, leannelrivers said:

Have you also set up the paid consultations feature? I haven't as yet because I'm not very comfortable with a giving a third party access to my calendar and personal information. 

You may come up with a better way to say it.  I haven't offered the paid consultations and don't plan on it for that same reason. Plus this way allows me far more control over scheduling, and even not booking one if it seems like a mismatch with the buyer.

Edited by newsmike
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13 hours ago, vickieito said:

Done! Now I have paid consultations. (that wasn't so bad, right?) 😊

I wonder how the alerts will go!

Wait there is an official paid consultation button we can add? I usually offer this as an extra. How did you get the button?

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13 minutes ago, lether said:

Wait there is an official paid consultation button we can add? I usually offer this as an extra. How did you get the button?

Its still in beta so its not available to all sellers just yet. You can read more about it here: https://www.fiverr.com/support/articles/12307695633041-Paid-Consultations-for-sellers

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On 2/19/2023 at 6:50 PM, newsmike said:

sellers who cannot speak 4th grade English who list their proficiency level at "Fluent."

From my experience with children in K through 8, many of the sellers that have been called out speak more like preschool English. 
 

On 2/19/2023 at 7:02 PM, newsmike said:

Message me to book it. Great for agencies or when you need to be 100% sure.

Lol, when I first read this, my brain read, "Massage me". 

Edited by vickiespencer
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I can't/won't do Zoom calls for a variety of reasons I'm not going to list. However, it is a viable option for people in the content-creation world. Amazing people have to prove they're human to work! It's like a career CAPTCHA "I am not a robot" thing.

These advancements are making me glad for building multiple egg baskets (Don't put your eggs all in one basket... multiple income sources) over the years.

Edited by melanielm
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