Putting the Kabash on chatGPT bid writing

[861059ef]

Hey Upwork team - 

So many devs are responding to bids with chatgpt-written proposals - which makes it impossible to evaluate from the first read through - b/c they don't say anything other than reguritating the project description. It's maybe 50% harder to hire now as compared with pre-chat-gpt. Can you fix? 

[PradeepH]

Hi Ben,

I understand your frustration with the quality of the proposals you receive on Upwork. It is unfortunate that some developers use ChatGPT to generate generic and irrelevant responses that do not address your specific needs. 

Upwork strives to create a fair and transparent platform for both clients and freelancers. You can help us by flagging any inappropriate proposals or profiles using the 'Flag as Inappropriate' option. Our team will review and take action based on our internal guidelines. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to our customer support team if you need any assistance or have any questions. Thank you for choosing Upwork.

- Pradeep

[feed_my_eyes]

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{"PradeepH":"Pradeep H" wrote:

Hi Ben,

It is unfortunate that some developers use ChatGPT to generate generic and irrelevant responses that do not address your specific needs. 

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It's even more unfortunate that Upwork is encouraging them to do this.

[aprovado]

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It's even more unfortunate that Upwork is encouraging them to do this.

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Hi Christine,

I understand your frustration with how it's even more unfortunate that the platofrm encourages the use of tools that generate generic, irrelevant responses that fail to address any specifc need.

We strive to create a fair, transparent platform, and - you can get a false sense of doing something important by flagging poorly-written proposals. Our team will promptly round file your request, and happily move on to something else.

Please reach out if you need any assistance or have any questions. No one cares. Thank you for patiently enduring the abuse.

[bac0e2a7]

yes

[yofazza]

IIRC, the first client complain about this was around half a year ago.

In my opinion it's a very legitimate complain that should be addressed because, money flows from clients.

But it's not. Well, there was a tiny attempt at "reducing junk proposals", but not really working, because it only prevented some people from boosting with the help of another algo that (like the others) seems to be broken as well. Many legitimate freelancers were barred from boosting.

Also, "money flows from clients" may not be true right now, as the fees Upwork takes might be insignificant compared to the income they get from connects. 

> they don't say anything other than reguritating the project description.

A client posted his job description in an attachment and wrote that he want proposals from people, not bots. It turned out that 95% responded with "I understand you want people not bots, I have 5+ years experience... etc.".

90% bots. 95% if u add people who manually do Ai replies or rapidly fill out templates.

Replies of people who actually understand the job are minor.

[bac0e2a7]

Hi Ben,

I agree with Chat Gpt.It is unfortunate that some developers use ChatGPT to generate generic.
 Chat GPT is a nice function that helps a freelancer a lot.

[mahrukh001]

Hello Ben,

I understand your frustration regarding the influx of proposals generated by ChatGPT. As an experienced designer, I empathize with the challenge of sifting through these responses to find genuine and insightful proposals.

To address this issue, I suggest Upwork implement measures to encourage more personalized and thoughtful responses from freelancers. This could involve providing clearer guidelines on what constitutes a quality proposal, perhaps emphasizing the importance of demonstrating a genuine understanding of the project requirements and offering unique insights or suggestions.

Additionally, Upwork could explore incorporating tools or features that help clients filter out generic or low-effort proposals, such as allowing freelancers to showcase their portfolios or providing a rating system based on the quality of their proposals.

Ultimately, fostering a culture of professionalism and creativity within the Upwork community will benefit both clients and freelancers alike, enhancing the overall hiring experience on the platform.

Best regards,
Mahrukh

[atlinguist]

I think these tools are legitimate (even if I would never use them), seeing as they are a continuation of those "pimp my CV" and "job application writing course" strategies used in the offline world of yore. Makes it easier to pick out the real gems if the rest is all uniform rehash, don't you think?

[williamtcooper]

Ben,

View their Upwork profile for Reviews and Portfolio to determine who to do business with.

Realize if they use ChatGPT for a cover letter that English is usually a second or third language.

Only you know if that will work for your Job.

[the-right-writer]

Upwork is happy with the way things are and heavily encourages the use of the chatbots, for both freelancers and clients. Ads are on every single page, and popups are everywhere. Upwork does everything possible to hammer home using chatbots, short of requiring them. The freelancer is supposed to notify the client they are using the program. But hey, why follow that rule?

There are genuine freelancers who don't use them. You can tell with the first two sentences if it's the chatbots, and discard. Even when clients say, "No ChatGPT", many use it because they can't put together a proposal. If the freelancer says they can have the job done in record time, they are using chatbots, or what they call "AI." I'm talking about the ones that have the programs do all or most of the writing.

There are ongoing significant issues with the use of programs like ChatGPT, including the fact that the programs are using large language models, without notification of the people who own the content, which is also called plagiarism, or theft. The programs do not think, they regurgitate what they have swiped from the web, books, and who knows where else - because Open AI won't say. Some of the information is from open sources, but much is not, and again, no word from the company.

Now, I know, some will argue that if you don't embrace the chatbots (we are not discussing real AI) and use them constantly, your life is over, and you will become a penniless pauper in rags, living in an alley, begging for scraps of food from the rich people, using their devices and the chatbots as they walk to somewhere important. However, that dystopian future is a myth, promoted by those with a financial interest.

The truth is, the chatbots are not going to go away completely, but the initial thrill is gone for many people. The legal issues are problematic for people and businesses. The outcome will be a law(s) that mandates the disclosure for the use on any platform or media, with penalties for failure to comply. YouTube already practices this and it will spread to other fields. As with many new things, ChatGPT et al. brings with it a host of new legal issues, and it's the legal system that will sort out many of those issues. The chatbots will fade, and lead to something else, something better, and the courts will decide how ownership will be handled.

Using the programs for purposes other than making money are a different matter, although I still have issues with content without consent.

[fe9b8d82]

I'm in total agreement with all these sentiments, and I'd love to see this same attitude extended towards the terrible clients who post ChatGPT generated job posts which say nothing.

[66d33c0e]

Yes of course 

[d685b1b1]

That's why on my Job Posts I try to only talk to freelancers that have genuine responses to the job posting, versus chatgpt or copy/paste.