Freelancers Split on AI Impact as 43% Expect Negative Effects on Creative Work

[johnblockbuster]

A new survey from The Accountancy Partnership shows growing uncertainty among freelancers and self-employed creatives as AI tools become more embedded in everyday workflows.

The study found that 43.3% of professionals in fields like writing, design, marketing, and the arts believe AI will negatively affect their industry over the next five years. Meanwhile, only around 20% expect a positive impact, highlighting a divided outlook across the creative sector.

The concern comes as AI systems are increasingly capable of generating text, images, video, and audio at scale—raising questions about job security and the long-term value of human creativity.

Despite the anxiety, opinions aren’t uniformly pessimistic. Many respondents believe AI will reshape rather than replace creative roles, especially by handling repetitive tasks and speeding up production workflows.

The Accountancy Partnership’s managing director Lee Murphy said AI is already a major talking point in the industry, but emphasized that uncertainty remains about its long-term effects on creative work.

[madmax]

Many respondents believe AI will handle repetitive tasks and speed up production workflows, which is true, and also the repetitive tasks and production workflows were where a significant number of people made their living, so the math on that optimism requires some checking.