How will Upwork address the flood of ChatGPT proposals?

[#1]

I posted two unrelated jobs today (US only, for what's it worth) and received of a flood of identical proposals that follow the same, obviously AI-generated format. Two are below, but there were many more. I remember a forum post saying that ChatGPT proposals were verboten, but it's prevalent and done openly with impunity. I asked one why he didn't simply submit a normal proposal and he said: "I am using chatGPT to help me respond better. I am not very good at explaining details but if you won’t pick me that’s fine. Have a nice day."

That response shows me that, assuming Upwork is legitimately forbidding ChatGPT in proposals and content, there needs to be a better messaging mechanism if these guys don't know they're violating the Terms. 

As a small-time client, it's annoying to pick through ChatGPT proposals to find the real ones. But more importantly for me as a freelancer, it's giving professional clients a poor experience that's going to make them avoid the platform. 

**edited for Community Guidelines**

  

[#2]

I have hired over 180 freelancrs on Upwork.

I totally understand that ChatGPT use is causing problems for you and others.

But it does not affect me because I don't read proposals.

You may want to consider changing how you hire freelancers.
I have long found that reading proposals is a waste of my time. So I don't read them, and I block them from being written when the user interface allows me to do so.

[#3]

"But it does not affect me because I don't read proposals."

Great. But other clients do. If they have a poor experience and leave the platform, it will undoubtedly affect you. I'm not asking how you or others manage ChatGPT proposals client-side, but rather whether Upwork has plans to address its use.

[#4]

re: " I'm not asking how you or others manage ChatGPT proposals client-side, but rather whether Upwork has plans to address its use."

I don't know if there is anything Upwork can do to prevent it.
I believe that clients will need to be the ones who decide for themselves how to handle it.

[#5]

"I don't know if there is anything Upwork can do to prevent it."

I didn't expect you to. The post is targeting the official moderator staff who do know what initiatives are or are not in development. 

[#6]

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Preston H wrote:

I don't know if there is anything Upwork can do to prevent it.

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Make it a ToS violation and suspend or ban freelancers when clients flag their proposals.

[#7]

How, though? Freelance writing groups are a sea of seasoned writers talking about how long-time clients have accused them of using AI because they ran the content through one of the wildly inaccurate AI detectors--false positives would be off the charts. And, ChatGPT allows you to request that it write content that doesn't appear to be written by AI, and seems to do so fairly successfully.

[#8]

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Tiffany S wrote:

How, though? Freelance writing groups are a sea of seasoned writers talking about how long-time clients have accused them of using AI because they ran the content through one of the wildly inaccurate AI detectors--false positives would be off the charts. And, ChatGPT allows you to request that it write content that doesn't appear to be written by AI, and seems to do so fairly successfully.

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I think it would be pretty easy to spot AI in a proposal situation, because freelancers would all be using the exact same project description and therefore generate very similar results. (Quoting the OP: "I received a flood of identical proposals.") I don't expect that Upwork would actually suspend anyone who got caught - just like they don't really enforce their ToS in other cases where people are caught plagiarising their bids and profiles - but it would be nice to at least have a rule in place, in case it serves as a bit of a deterrant.

[#9]

Unfortunately Upwork deleted the screenshots from my post despite PII sanitizing them. But the two example proposals, which were representative of the many, were structurally the same and just very obviously inorganically generated. Most tellingly is that both regurgitated quirks in my own communication as keywords from the post and used them out of context. 

Moreover, both examples and all others flat-out misrepresented actual freelancer ability. One said he had a soundproof, top-notch recording studio and the other said he had 5 years of professional journalism experience. Would a professional with those experiences and qualifications, in either case, rely on ChatGPT to generate proposals? Absolutely not.

Which is why, even if there's an argument to be made that the technology is useful as an assistive function, outright fraud and misrepresentation in these cases is unequivocally a violation of the spirit and letter of Upwork's terms and should be prosecuted on that basis alone. 

[#10]

Is that not too strict? what if the proposal is not really Ai, but was flagged?

[#11]

Consider me as your new freelancer.

[#12]

What exactly do you do then? Check just the Profile?

[#13]

re: "What exactly do you do then? Check just the Profile?"

Well, I definitely don't read proposals. Waste of time.

I look at a freelancer's portfolio.

I look at their skills list.

If I am trying to hire an illustrator or artist, for example, I hire a freelancer whose skills list identifies her as such. I don't hire a freelancer whose skills list identifies her as a writer or Excel expert or baker.

I might look at work history.

The most important thing is evaluating freelancers AFTER hiring them.

I don't assume that I can predict which freelancers will work out for a project. If I hire them and they do great work, then I let them continue. If I don't like their work, I end the contract.

[#14]

Hi Perston,
But most of the clients read the proposals and select the freelancer on a proposal basis. 
If some are not reading like you, its ok. But those who read, what will they do?

[#15]

re: "But most of the clients read the proposals and select the freelancer on a proposal basis. If some are not reading like you, its ok. But those who read, what will they do?"

If reading proposals has been beneficial to other clients, that's great!

If reading proposals is now becoming frustrating to a client because he sees a deluge of AI-generated content, then the client should pivot... change his strategy. I'm saying from first hand experience that a client can be very successful WITHOUT reading proposals.

It is very freeing for a client to know he can hire freelancers without any commitment, and fire them quickly if they don't work out. That is one of the great benefits of using Upwork. It is very unfortunate when clients don't understand the power they have.

[#16]

What is the Main key benefit that sees by you as a client for a new freelancer or a top rated freelancer? 

[#17]

Are you looking to hire more freelancers, consider me?

[#18]

Ok so, do you mind explaining the basis on which you do hire freelancers instead then?

[#19]

So, how do you hire a competent freelancer if you don't read proposals?

[#20]

I doubt if Upwork has the mechanism (yet) to prevent it.  I suppose all a client can do is to put in their job offer that any AI proposals  will be binned, or report the freelancers who do it, which would be too time consuming.

The  examples you have given look more like proposals for B & M jobs; they are overlong, overstuffed, and rather old-fashioned.  But to get dozens of this kind of proposal must be incredily irritating. One can only hope that the novelty of ChatGPT will eventually wear off - especially if Google gets hoist with its own petard and has to cope with a tsunami of identical articles and websites that are already overcrowding the web. 

[#21]

Upwork staff posted in the forum that ChatGPT is forbidden unless disclosed; if they're making pronouncements disallowing certain actions there should be an actual mechanism to address it.  

[#22]

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Nichola L wrote:

I doubt if Upwork has the mechanism (yet) to prevent it.  I suppose all a client can do is to put in their job offer that any AI proposals  will be binned.

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That's a great idea.

[#23]

A client "could" use the proposal content to assess how good this person is in terms of expressing themselves in written format. Also the language skills as most freelancers wouldn't have english as a native language.

If they used google translate, you'd easily understand because it wasnt very successful. Now that they use ai tools i believe you can still understand the unnecessary doublespeak in ai generated proposals, it is now less useful in understanding freelancers skills.

But i mean does it really have any impact on who gets hired? You'd anyway have a short zoom call and see who this person actually is.

[#24]

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Alper D wrote:

But i mean does it really have any impact on who gets hired? You'd anyway have a short zoom call and see who this person actually is.

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I wouldn't bother having a Zoom call with anyone who's so lazy and/or inarticulate that they can't read a project description and write their own proposal. If clients are flooded with a bunch of identical spam proposals, they'll be more likely to get fed up and not hire anyone. So, that's bad for all freelancers and for Upwork. 

[#25]

"more likely to get fed up and not hire anyone. So, that's bad for all freelancers and for Upwork."

Yep, that's critical and why Preston's "just don't read proposals" is useless in toto. I don't care about reading through AI proposals as a client; I'm small-time on that end and often just looking to clear some things off my plate. But other clients, "real" clients, will either see the flood of regurgitated proposals that say nothing or hire off of one and be sorely disappointed by the results. That client, that firm, their associates and friends - all have a tainted view of Upwork in the end, avoid the platform, and affect my bottom line as a full-time freelancer.