Fiverr's fetish with AI now makes sense.

[newsmike]

I believe I have cracked the code on Fiverr's 180 degree reversal of AI acceptance. Kick the tires on this.

Fiverr keeps talking about how AI will "empower" its seller community. 

Actually, they are not wrong in theory, just that they found a way to empower the wrong group of sellers. For years we have lamented the fact that that Fiverr allowed completely untalented people who could not string 2 sentences together in English to pose as skilled sellers, only to disappoint the buyers on delivery. It was so prevalent that several places on the globe became famous for this, largely due to the lack of any barrier to entry. If you had a cell phone and the power was on in your village at the moment, you could join Fiverr and claim to be anything in the world, unchallenged, and they did.  

Through the years we asked for barriers to entry such as pay wall, skills verification, location and English proficiency verification, but this was all ignored while the great sweat shop ground away 24/7. 

Then the moment of singularity, the universal joke was played on all of us, when Fiverr decided that instead of cleaning the place up and ridding the platform of the scammers, spammers and impostors, they realized that by reversing their momentary ban on AI, they could essentially "empower" the world to pose as anything with far greater effect. 

Essentially, Fiverr decided to assist the grift. They are actually providing instruction as to how to game their own system, forming an army of mediocre sellers that they value far more than a small cadre of professionals with actual talents and skills.

So yes, there are 8 billion photoshop experts in the world, 8 billion VO artists and 8 billion pro video editors, all on Fiber for just $5. As long as they get $1 of each sale, then what's the problem with playing a little "make believe." Go ahead chat with someone using Google translate who claims to be in Chicago, and get an AI generated, twelve fingered portrait of yourself. 

It's good for biz, one dollar at a time.

Edited April 15 by newsmike

[milos_siena]

I was shocked to see that even on Quora, when someone asks for help, people swarm the topic with AI answers. Not to mention sellers with AI introduction, coming to the forum asking for help, and you can sometimes even have a problem understanding what they want because of low level english.

[catwriter]

8 hours ago, newsmike said:

an army of mediocre sellers

It wouldn't be such a problem if they were mediocre. Mediocre is perfectly fine for basic tasks, and many of the intermediate difficulty. Not everyone is looking for high-end or complex solutions.

The problem is that they have no skills.

36 minutes ago, milos_siena said:

I was shocked to see that even on Quora, when someone asks for help, people swarm the topic with AI answers.

It doesn't surprise me. Quora has been advertised, for a very long time, as a great place where you can share your expertise (and by doing it, indirectly advertise yourself). No expertise to share? AI to the rescue.

[emmaki]

I do wish search results would stop showing Quora.

1) 99% of the time, if you click through, the website doesn't take you to the page you thought you were going to and you look at a slightly related question instead. Usually written by AI.

2) You don't click through, because you can clearly see from the snippet that some lardbrain asked ChatGPT to answer the question for them.

All the interesting people left Quora for Medium (which is also now infested with AI and affiliate spam - a problem likely to get worse since Medium at least ranks on Google, unlike most people's AI blogs).

In conclusion, the internet is infested with people who shouldn't be "writing" English articles, much less offering "expert" advice. Google's attempt to wipe out AI spam doesn't seem to be very successful either - all I see now is endless forums with "expert" comments written by AI. But since Google thinks its "UGC", that's.... fine?

AI abuse is a big problem on the internet, and its everywhere.

4 hours ago, catwriter said:

Quora has been advertised, for a very long time, as a great place where you can share your expertise

There's a niche AI tool out there that will use AI to find Quora questions in your expertise and then spam the heck out of it with rehashed garbage top-notch content.

Incidentally, a few years back, Quora changed from paying writers to paying "question askers" in a bizarre move that saw a lot of inflammatory/super dumb/etc. questions from people who realized that this was the best way to get paid. Quora's feeble rationale was that since questions created answers, the more answers a question got the more the questioner should be rewarded. Or, in deluded corp-speak, "rewarding the creation engaging, high quality content".

Meanwhile, the actual subject matter experts who were on Quora because they liked being on Quora anyway upped and left, outraged that a) they were no longer making what they used to b) 💩posting was being rewarded, and Quora was la-la-la-ing to itself at all of these problems. I think, anyway, I stopped bothering with Q long before the AI invasion - all the interesting people had left.

We are awash in a sea of AI junk, and Fiverr is just adding to the pollution.

[smashradio]

4 hours ago, catwriter said:

It wouldn't be such a problem if they were mediocre. 

I have to disagree, because it’s the average Joes (and by average, I mean Fiverr-average, not world-average.) who are just skilled enough to copy and paste something that resembles a professional introduction (at first glance), bragging about their expert skills. What happens when people buy from them and end up with junk? They become one of the 200,000 customers who've already ditched Fiverr.

13 hours ago, newsmike said:

It's good for biz, one dollar at a time.

You cracked it. 

 

Edited April 16 by smashradio

[emmaki]

I asked ChatGPT to chip into this argument before another AI expart does. How dare we all not acknowledge that anyone can dissatisfy anyone, anywhere, at any time! That's unfair.

Quote

The post suggests that Fiverr suffers from a proliferation of subpar service providers who deliver low-quality work, leading to dissatisfaction among customers. This argument posits that many providers on Fiverr may lack genuine expertise, merely possessing enough skill to create a superficially professional appearance.

However, this argument overlooks several factors. Firstly, while there may be instances of low-quality work on Fiverr, the platform also hosts numerous skilled and reputable freelancers who deliver high-quality services. Secondly, Fiverr offers mechanisms such as reviews and ratings that help customers gauge the reliability and competence of service providers. Lastly, the statement doesn't acknowledge that dissatisfaction with any service provider can occur across any platform, not just Fiverr.

In essence, while there may be instances of poor service on Fiverr, it's unfair to paint the entire platform and its users with the same brush. Fiverr provides opportunities for both skilled professionals and clients seeking affordable services, and with careful consideration and research, customers can find reputable freelancers who meet their needs.

[catwriter]

30 minutes ago, smashradio said:

I have to disagree, because it’s the average Joes (and by average, I mean Fiverr-average, not world-average.) who are just skilled enough to copy and paste something that resembles a professional introduction (at first glance), bragging about their expert skills

Oh, ok, by mediocre I meant world-average, and not bragging about their expert skills, but being honest about them.

[smashradio]

2 minutes ago, catwriter said:

Oh, ok, by mediocre I meant world-average, and not bragging about their expert skills, but being honest about them.

Ah. We have to think differently here on Fiverr. It's a... unique average. 🙂