How to make money with artificial intelligence (the truth)

Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2023, weeks after ChatGPT went viral. Remarks such as Google not yet detecting AI-written articles and AI books appearing on Amazon reflect that moment.

It’s worth saying that if someone has no experience or knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI), it can be hard to find opportunities to make money directly through AI. Even so, there are some ways a person can benefit from artificial intelligence without deep knowledge of the subject. But first, let’s look at some of the ways of making money with artificial intelligence that are being put forward and which, well… I don’t really agree with on principle, but I feel obliged to mention them.

See also: How to earn extra money from home

AI-generated content

Unfortunately, articles written entirely by artificial intelligence are already being produced, and let’s call it what it is: they’re hard to spot, except that AI still lacks critical thinking, and not every reader can tell whether content was created by AI or by a human. This way you can churn out articles by the dozen, and many of them rank, at least until Google gets better at detecting them.

Books written by artificial intelligence and sold on Amazon

You heard that right. This is one of the business ideas pushed by some snake-oil sellers, and it is already being used. After all, why waste time writing a book when artificial intelligence can write it for you? Some of those books will probably even end up with good reviews, thanks to the literary flair of their “author”. It’s certainly a way of making money with artificial intelligence, but it is still a way of taking readers for fools.

YouTube or TikTok videos created automatically by artificial intelligence

More of the same. It can be done. The AI writes the script, and AI also produces the video with an AI-generated voice. The creator makes money on autopilot and, once again, leaves a victim in their wake: the viewer.

AI-generated tutorials

Tutorials on all kinds of subjects created by artificial intelligence are already going on sale. Once again, this is a way of making money on autopilot without much effort or knowledge.

Teaching other people to make money with artificial intelligence

And this may well be one of the most profitable ways to make money: teaching others how to make money with AI, which is clearly working very well. In fact, the AI itself can create the content for teaching others how to make money with artificial intelligence.

Ways to make money with artificial intelligence

Now let’s move on to the ways of making money with artificial intelligence that do require deeper knowledge of the subject and are, therefore, a more profitable way of doing business in the long run.

Developing AI applications

An obvious way to make money with AI is to develop applications or solutions that use AI to solve business or consumer problems. This could include customer-service chatbots, data-analysis systems, process-automation tools and many other solutions.

AI consulting

Companies may be interested in bringing AI into their operations but lack the in-house knowledge to do so. AI consulting is a growing field and can be a profitable way to use AI to make money, or even to build a business around it.

Data analysis

AI can help companies analyse large amounts of data and extract valuable information. If you have skills in data analysis and AI, you can offer data-analysis services to companies that need help in this area.

Developing AI models

If you have programming and maths skills, you can develop AI models to solve specific problems in different fields, such as medicine, engineering or commerce.

Investing in AI companies

One way to make money with artificial intelligence is precisely to invest in companies that stand to benefit from artificial intelligence. You can also invest in growing AI companies. Many AI start-ups have strong growth potential and can be a good long-term investment. We named some of those companies in this article.

Investing in funds that focus on AI

There are already investment funds that specialise in technology companies, including those developing AI technologies. While this doesn’t guarantee profits, it can be a way to diversify an investment portfolio.

Using crowdsourcing platforms

There are online platforms where people can do simple tasks that help train AI algorithms. For example, some platforms pay people to label images or transcribe text. Although the income may be low, this can be a way to earn some extra money.

Learning programming and data-analysis skills

Learning programming and data-analysis skills can open up opportunities to work for companies that use AI. While this may take time and effort, there are plenty of online resources to help people learn these skills.

See also: Working from home: the pros and cons

Using AI to automate tasks

Even if someone has no experience building AI algorithms, they can still use the technology to automate tasks and work more efficiently. For example, there are natural language processing tools that can help automate email replies or administrative tasks. And, once again, one way to make money from this would be to teach companies how to use artificial intelligence to save resources.

Building browser extensions

For those with broader knowledge of artificial intelligence and of developing apps and extensions, this is undoubtedly another way to make money.

It’s important to bear in mind that, although AI can be a promising technology, it is not a magic way to make money without effort. All of the options above require effort, time and dedication to succeed in this business. And that’s according to the AI itself 🙂

See also: 28 ways to make money online quickly

Featured image: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.