Sometime last year, Ian Lamont’s inbox began piling up with inquiries about a job listing. The Boston-based owner of a how-to guide company hadn’t opened any new positions, but when he logged onto LinkedIn, he found one for a “Data Entry Clerk” linked to his business’s name and logo.

Lamont soon realized his brand was being scammed, which he confirmed when he came across the profile of someone purporting to be his company’s “manager.” The account had fewer than a dozen connections and an AI-generated face. He spent the next few days warning visitors to his company’s site about the scam and convincing LinkedIn to take down the fake profile and listing. By then, more than twenty people reached out to him directly about the job, and he suspects many more had applied.

Generative AI’s potential to bolster business is staggering. According to one 2023 estimate from McKinsey, in the coming years it’s expected to add more value to the global economy annually than the entire GDP of the United Kingdom. At the same time, GenAI’s ability to almost instantaneously produce authentic-seeming content at mass scale has created the equally staggering potential to harm businesses.

Since ChatGPT’s debut in 2022, online businesses have had to navigate a rapidly expanding deepfake economy, where it’s increasingly difficult to discern whether any text, call, or email is real or a scam. In the past year alone, GenAI-enabled scams have quadrupled, according to the scam reporting platform Chainabuse. In a Nationwide insurance survey of small business owners last fall, a quarter reported having faced at least one AI scam in the past year. Microsoft says it now shuts down nearly 1.6 million bot-based signup attempts every hour. Renée DiResta, who researches online adversarial abuse at Georgetown University, tells me she calls the GenAI boom the “industrial revolution for scams” — as it automates frauds, lowers barriers to entry, reduces costs, and increases access to targets.

The consequences of falling for an AI-manipulated scam can be devastating. Last year, a finance clerk at the engineering firm Arup joined a video call with whom he believed were his colleagues. It turned out that each of the attendees was a deepfake recreation of a real coworker, including the organization’s chief financial officer. The fraudsters asked the clerk to approve overseas transfers amounting to more than $25 million, and assuming the request came through the CFO, he green-lit the transaction.

Business Insider spoke with professionals in several industries — including recruitment, graphic design, publishing, and healthcare — who are scrambling to keep themselves and their customers safe against AI’s ever-evolving threats. Many feel like they’re playing an endless game of whack-a-mole, and the moles are only multiplying and getting more cunning.

Last year, fraudsters used AI to build a French-language replica of the online Japanese knives store Oishya, and sent automated scam offers to the company’s 10,000-plus followers on Instagram. The fake company told customers of the real company they had won a free knife and that all they had to do was pay a small shipping fee to claim it — and nearly 100 people fell for it. Kamila Hankiewicz, who has run Oishya for nine years, learned about the scam only after several victims contacted her asking how long they needed to wait for the parcel to arrive.

It was a rude awakening for Hankiewicz. She’s since ramped up the company’s cybersecurity and now runs campaigns to teach customers how to spot fake communications. Though many of her customers were upset about getting defrauded, Hankiewicz helped them file reports with their financial institutions for refunds. Rattling as the experience was, “the incident actually strengthened our relationship with many customers who appreciated our proactive approach,” she says.

Her alarm bells really went off once the interviewer asked her to share her driver’s license.

Rob Duncan, the VP of strategy at the cybersecurity firm Netcraft, isn’t surprised at the surge in personalized phishing attacks against small businesses like Oishya. GenAI tools now allow even a novice lone wolf with little technical know-how to clone a brand’s image and write flawless, convincing scam messages within minutes, he says. With cheap tools, “attackers can more easily spoof employees, fool customers, or impersonate partners across multiple channels,” Duncan says.

Though mainstream AI tools like ChatGPT have precautions in place when you ask them to infringe copyright, there are now plenty of free or inexpensive online services that allow users to replicate a business’s website with simple text prompts. Using a tool called Llama Press, I was able to produce a near-exact clone of Hankiewicz’s store, and personalize it from a few words of instructions. (Kody Kendall, Llama Press’s founder, says cloning a store like Oshiya’s doesn’t trigger a safety block because there can be legitimate reasons to do so, like when a business owner is trying to migrate their website to a new hosting platform. He adds that Llama Press relies on Anthropic’s and OpenAI’s built-in safety checks to weed out bad-faith requests.)

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Text is just one front of the war businesses are fighting against malicious uses of AI. With the latest tools, it takes a solo adversary — again with no technical expertise — as little as an hour to create a convincing fake job candidate to attend a video interview.

Tatiana Becker, a tech recruiter based in New York, tells me deepfake job candidates have become an “epidemic.” Over the past couple years, she has had to frequently reject scam applicants who use deepfake avatars to cheat on interviews. At this point, she’s able to discern some of their telltale signs of fakery, including a glitchy video quality and the candidate’s refusal to switch up any element of their appearance during the call, such as taking off their headphones. Now, at the start of every interview she asks for the candidates’ ID and poses more open-ended questions, like what they like to do in their free time, to suss out if they’re a human. Ironically, she’s made herself more robotic at the outset of interviews to sniff out the robots.

Nicole Yelland, a PR executive, says she found herself on the opposite end of deepfakery earlier this year. A scammer impersonating a startup recruiter approached her over email saying he was looking for a head of comms, with an offer package that included generous pay and benefits. The purported person even shared with her an exhaustive slide deck, decorated with AI-generated visuals, outlining the role’s responsibilities and benefits. Enticed, she scheduled an interview.

During the video meeting, however, the “hiring manager” refused to speak, and instead asked Yelland to type her responses to the written questions in the Microsoft Teams chat section. Her alarm bells really went off once the interviewer started asking her to share a series of private documents, including her driver’s license.

Yelland now runs a background check with tools like Spokeo before engaging with any stranger online. “It’s annoying and takes more time, but engaging with a spammer is more annoying and time-consuming; so this is where we are,” she says.

While videoconferencing platforms like Teams and Zoom are getting better at detecting AI-generated accounts, some experts say the detection itself risks creating an vicious cycle. The data these platforms collect on what’s fake is ultimately used to train more sophisticated GenAI models, which will help them get better at escaping fakery detectors and fuel “an arms race defenders cannot win,” says Jasson Casey, the CEO of Beyond Identity, a cybersecurity firm that specializes in identity theft. Casey and his company believe the focus should instead be on authenticating a person’s identity. Beyond Identity sells tools that can be plugged into Zoom that verify meeting participants through their device’s biometrics and location data. If it detects a discrepancy, the tools label the participants’ video feed as “unverified.” Tramèr Florian, a computer science professor at ETH Zurich, agrees that authenticating identity will likely become more essential to ensure that you’re always talking to a legitimate colleague.

It’s not just fake job candidates entrepreneurs now have to contend with, it’s always fake versions of themselves. In late 2024, scammers ran ads on Facebook for a video featuring Jonathan Shaw, the deputy director of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne. Although the person in it looked and sounded exactly like Dr. Shaw, the voice had been deepfaked and edited to say that metformin — a first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes — is “dangerous,” and patients should instead switch to an unproven dietary supplement. The fake ad was accompanied by a fake written news interview with Shaw.

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Several of his clinic’s patients, believing the video was genuine, reached out asking how to get a hold of the supplement. “One of my longstanding patients asked me how come I continued to prescribe metformin to him, when ‘I’ had said on the video that it was a poor drug,” Shaw tells me. Eventually he was able to get Facebook to take down the video.

Then there’s the equally vexing and annoying issue of AI slop — an inundation of low-quality, mass-produced images and text that is flooding the internet and making it ever-more difficult for the average person to tell what’s real or fake. In her research, DiResta found instances where social platforms’ recommendation engines have promoted malicious slop — where scammers would put up images of items like nonexistent rental properties, appliances, and more that users were frequently falling for it and giving away their payment details.

On Pinterest, AI-generated “inspo” posts have plagued people’s mood boards — so much so that Philadelphia-based Cake Life Shop now often receives orders from customers asking them to recreate what are actually AI-generated cakes. In one shared with Business Insider, the cake resembles a moss-filled rainforest, and features a functional waterfall. Thankfully for cofounder Nima Etemadi, most customers are “receptive to hearing about what is possible with real cake after we burst their AI bubble,” he says.

Similarly, AI-generated books have swarmed Amazon and are now hurting publisher sales.

Pauline Frommer, the president of the travel guide publisher Frommer Media, says that AI-generated guidebooks have managed to reach the top of lists with the help of fake reviews. An AI publisher buys a few Prime memberships, sets the guidebook’s ebook price to zero, and then leaves seemingly “verified reviews” by downloading its copies for free. These practices, she says, “will make it virtually impossible for a new, legitimate brand of guidebook to enter the business right now.” Ian Lamont says he received an AI-generated guidebook as a gift last year: a text-only guide to Taiwan, with no pictures or maps.

While the FTC now considers it illegal to publish fake, AI-generated product reviews, official policies haven’t yet caught up with AI-generated content itself. Platforms like Pinterest and Google have started to watermark and label AI-generated posts, but since it’s not error-free yet, some worry these measures may do more harm than good. DiResta fears that a potential unintended consequence of ubiquitous AI labels would be people experiencing “label fatigue,” where they blindly assume that unlabeled content is therefore always “real.” “It’s a potentially dangerous assumption if a sophisticated manipulator, like a state actor’s intelligence service, manages to get disinformation content past a labeler,” she says.

For now, small business owners should stay vigilant, says Robin Pugh, the executive director of Intelligence for Good, a non-profit that helps victims of internet-enabled crimes. They should always validate they’re dealing with an actual human and that the money they’re sending is actually going where they intend it to go.

Etemadi of Cake Life Shop recognizes that for as much as GenAI can help his business become more efficient, scam artists will ultimately use the same tools to become just as efficient. “Doing business online gets more necessary and high risk every year,” he says. “AI is just part of that.”

Shubham Agarwal is a freelance technology journalist from Ahmedabad, India, whose work has appeared in Wired, The Verge, Fast Company, and more.

Here’s a scary thought: Your job security could be in the hands of AI.

That’s according to a new study from career site Resumebuilder.com, finding that more managers are relying on tools like ChatGPT to make hiring and firing decisions.

Managers across the U.S. are increasingly outsourcing personnel-related matters to a range of AI tools, despite their not being well-versed in how to use the technology, according to the survey of more than 1,300 people in manager-level positions across different organizations.

The survey found that while one-third of people in charge of employees’ career trajectories have no formal training in using AI tools, 65% use it to make work-related decisions. Even more managers appear to be leaning heavily on AI when deciding who to hire, fire or promote, according to the survey. Ninety-four percent of managers said they turn to AI tools when tasked with determining who should be promoted or earn a raise, or even be laid off.

The growing reliance among managers on AI tools for personnel-related decisions is at odds with the notion that these tasks often fall under the purview of human resources departments. But companies are quickly integrating AI into day-to-day operations, and urging workers to use it.

“The guidance managers are getting from their CEOs over and over again, is that this technology is coming, and you better starting using it,” Axios Business reporter Erica Pandey told CBS News. “And a lot of what managers are doing are these critical decisions of hiring and firing, and raises and promotions. So it makes sense that they’re starting to wade into the use there.”

To be sure, there are risks associated with using generative AI to determine who climbs the corporate ladder and who loses their job, especially if those using the technology don’t understand it well.

“AI is only as good as the data you feed it,” Pandey said. “A lot of folks don’t know how much data you need to give it. And beyond that … this is a very sensitive decision; it involves someone’s life and livelihood. These are decisions that still need human input — at least a human checking the work.”

In other words, problems can arise when AI is increasingly determining staffing decisions with little input from human managers.

“The fact that AI could be in some cases making these decisions start to finish — you think about a manager just asking ChatGPT, ‘Hey, who should I lay off? How many people should I lay off?’ That, I think is really scary,” Pandey said.

Companies could also find themselves exposed to discrimination lawsuits.

“Report after report has told us that AI is biased. It’s as biased as the person using it. So you could see a lot of hairy legal territory for companies,” Pandey said.

AI could also struggle to make sound personnel decisions when a worker’s success is measured qualitatively, versus quantitatively.

“If there aren’t hard numbers there, it’s very subjective,” Pandey said. “It very much needs human deliberation. Probably the deliberation of much more than one human, also.”

Artificial intelligence has become an essential tool in many industries. Generative AI completes repetitive tasks like answering customer questions, while the latest AI tools perform complex processes like creating product schematics and writing software. These advancements make AI a great opportunity for making money online.

The best part: You don’t need access to expensive AI technology to generate income. You can launch an AI-powered business and make money online with a commercially available application like Google Gemini or ChatGPT.

Here’s an overview of AI business ideas and artificial intelligence tools, and tips on how to make money using AI.

What is AI?

Before diving into money-making opportunities, let’s clarify what we mean by AI. Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Like the human brain, an AI tool typically can learn from experience (also known as its “training”), adapt to changes, and improve over time.

Today’s AI landscape includes:

Generative AI: Systems that create new content based on patterns learned from existing data. This includes text generators like ChatGPT, image creators like DALL-E, and code generators like GitHub Copilot.

Systems that create new content based on patterns learned from existing data. This includes text generators like ChatGPT, image creators like DALL-E, and code generators like GitHub Copilot. Machine learning (ML): Algorithms that enable computers to learn from data analysis to make decisions or predictions. AI-generated art and writing tools use different types of machine learning algorithms to create content based on patterns detected in human output.

Algorithms that enable computers to learn from data analysis to make decisions or predictions. AI-generated art and writing tools use different types of machine learning algorithms to create content based on patterns detected in human output. Deep learning: A subset of machine learning involving neural networks with multiple layers (deep neural networks). These networks help machines improve image and speech recognition.

How to make money using AI: 18 ideas

The speed at which artificial intelligence has developed has allowed it to permeate countless industries, from writing to data analytics. Market trends have produced a surge in AI applications throughout the economy, making it easier than ever to find ways to make money using AI. In fact, Statista predicts that the AI market size will reach $826 billion by 2030.

Here are a few ideas to explore if you’re looking to monetize AI.

1. AI ecommerce

AI is revolutionizing online selling, making it easier than ever to launch and scale an ecommerce business. Gone are the days when you needed technical expertise or a big budget to create a professional online store. Today’s AI-powered ecommerce platforms handle everything from store design to product descriptions, letting you focus on what matters: building a brand that connects with customers.

Some entrepreneurs are making thousands of dollars monthly by combining AI with smart product selection and targeted marketing. According to SellersCommerce, AI is expected to add $8.65 billion to the ecommerce industry in 2025, meaning more opportunities for savvy business owners. The key is using AI to handle the heavy lifting while you bring your unique vision and customer knowledge to the table.

For example, you can use Shopify’s AI store builder to create a free store design in minutes. Enter a quick description of your business or products to generate custom themes with a unique look tailored for your industry. Try any theme and customize them further to suit your needs.

Build an online store with AI Create a website in minutes with the AI store builder. Describe your brand or products to generate a free custom theme that fits your idea. Try it now

2. AI software development

AI tools can write the code that powers many types of software applications. This saves time and human power, cutting out the tedious task of drafting lines of code. You could work as a freelance coder and software developer, using AI coding tools to create programs for clients.

The software you create with AI can also incorporate AI models. For instance, you could use AI to create automated bookkeeping software that uses machine learning algorithms to process ledger entries and generate financial reports.

3. AI data analytics

Embracing AI data analytics services includes the use of deep learning, natural language processing (NLP,) and sometimes computer vision (depending on the nature of the data and the insights sought). You can leverage AI technologies to gain insights, optimize processes, produce data visualization, and create new industry opportunities.

Many businesses pay for actionable information that can drive decision-making. Some of the leading AI data analytics products include RapidMiner, DataRobot, and Domino.

Recommended reading: Top AI Statistics and Artificial Intelligence Trends

4. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants

There is ample market demand for customer service AI chatbots. Unlike human representatives, powerful AI chatbots can generate thousands of replies per minute, letting you serve customers online with great efficiency.

Create and provide AI chatbots or virtual assistants to businesses looking to enhance their customer service operations. You can make money with AI by personalizing your chatbots to automate responses and improve customer satisfaction on clients’ websites or platforms.

5. AI written content

Thanks to NLP, AI writing tools can specialize in content creation that mimics human syntax with impressive precision. For example, freelance writers can use AI writing tools to generate ideas and write faster than they could unassisted. With AI-powered content generation, it streamlines the creative process, which opens up their bandwidth to offer writing services to more freelance clients, leading to higher pay without much additional effort.

In today’s business landscape, where AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, contribute to content creation, the role of an editor becomes crucial to ensure content quality, coherence, and alignment with brand values. That means, even if you don’t use AI applications for content creation, you could make money with AI by becoming an editor of AI content—offering a human touch to the high-volume output of AI tools.

6. AI graphic design

Many AI-powered tools can produce AI-generated art for a variety of purposes. For example, you can use AI image generators for digital artwork like corporate logos, web design, t-shirt graphics, and more. Use a powerful tool like Midjourney or DALL-E to speed up the process of creating digital art for your clients. Once they sign off on a concept, you can use your editing skills to customize and perfect the AI-generated artwork.

Typically, you only need to prompt the AI art generator with a text description of your design idea, and the tool can create images based on your words. You can also use an AI-assisted design tool like Adobe Sensei or Canva to develop your visual concepts.

7. AI website creation

AI tools can design and build websites with remarkable speed. Utilizing AI tools, you can create a custom website that aligns with your objectives, like an ecommerce site or photography portfolio. This might mean building sites for clients or designing your own website to represent your business.

8. AI video editing

AI tools can now cut and edit videos based on a series of written inputs. AI video editing software like PictoryAI and Animoto works on everything from low-budget YouTube videos to professional films, TV shows, and commercials.

If you have foundational skills in video editing, incorporating AI tools can enhance your efficiency, helping you expedite the editing process. This increase in productivity can help you accommodate more clients. While a human editor’s oversight remains valuable, machine learning advancements have enabled software to generate AI video content with reduced need for manual intervention.

9. AI digital marketing

There are AI tools to handle nearly every aspect of digital marketing and even help you manage social media brands. You can integrate AI solutions that aid in content creation, schedule paid advertising content (through a combination of data analysis, predictive analytics, and automation), write blog posts, optimize sites for search engines, draft sponsored social media posts, and help with conversion rate optimization.

Many AI-powered marketing campaigns start with a set of human-crafted digital marketing materials. From there, AI tools can create and disseminate more content to help promote your clients or sell products and services thanks to AI content creation.

Recommended reading: How To Use AI for Sales, Plus 8 Effective AI Sales Tools

10. AI affiliate marketing

Make money with AI tools by getting into the affiliate marketing game. As an AI-powered affiliate marketer, you can generate income by promoting other companies’ products or services and earning commission. AI tools can help you set up an affiliate marketing website in part by observing search trends to figure out what products are worth featuring. Once it’s up and running, an affiliate marketing website can be a great side hustle, bringing in passive income while you focus on other projects.

Recommended reading: AI Affiliate Marketing: How To Earn with Artificial Intelligence

11. AI translation services

Large language models (LLMs) have a deep understanding of many languages, making them useful as translation tools. If you’re multilingual, you can offer AI translation and localization services.

When you start an AI-assisted translation service, the AI translation tools produce a basic translation. Then you review the machine’s output, checking for accuracy and syntax before delivering to clients.

12. AI-powered predictive analytics in finance

Financial analysts now use AI for predictive modeling. This could involve building AI algorithms for stock market predictions, risk assessment, or fraud detection in financial transactions. Learn more about these data analysis applications by checking out the existing AI finance software in this space, including Kensho, H2O Driverless AI, and Palantir Foundry.

13. AI-based training programs

Using AI, you can create online courses, training programs, and workshops. Use AI to create an outline for a course and flesh it out with unique content, relying on your expertise to finesse the AI’s output and tailor it to your target audience. On a business-to-consumer (B2C) basis, these courses can cater to individuals looking to upskill; on a business-to-business (B2B) basis, they could serve businesses looking to educate employees about their industry or buyer personas.

14. AI hiring and recruitment

Develop custom AI solutions for automating the hiring process, including résumé screening, candidate matching, and interviews. This can save HR departments time and resources. Many of the nation’s leading job recruitment platforms already use AI-powered software to sort through applicants. Consider building specialized AI tools for niche businesses looking to hire rare skill sets.

15. AI cybersecurity

AI-powered cybersecurity solutions help businesses detect threats and anomalies and monitor for these in real time. With cyberattacks on the rise, businesses are willing to invest in advanced security measures.

If you enter this field, your target audience likely will be companies storing large troves of customer data. For example, you would work to protect sensitive financial data that would have significant consequences if compromised.

16. AI inventory management

Inventory management is a complex process that AI tools can simplify and be used for to help you save time. With AI-powered software, you can track the movement of products through a supply chain, predict stocking needs based on customer behavior, and update inventory records as products are sold and restocked.

As a digital entrepreneur, you can use an AI-powered all-in-one inventory management solution. Or, you can make more money by concentrating on a specific niche like warehousing or shipping logistics.

17. AI agricultural management

AI applications can now help with precision agriculture, crop monitoring, and yield prediction. These solutions can help farmers optimize their operations and improve crop yields. If you work in agriculture, you can join the farmers, seed producers, and resource managers who already make money with AI tools while improving food production.

18. AI in supply chain optimization

According to a 2024 McKinsey & Company survey, 53% of respondents saw more than a 5% increase in revenue when leveraging AI tools for supply chain and inventory management. Use AI to perform tasks like optimizing inventory management systems, organizing routes and suppliers, performing quality control, predicting and managing risks, and forecasting demand.

AI tools comparison: finding the right fit for your business

With hundreds of AI tools available, choosing the right ones for your business is key. Here are some of the most popular AI applications, and their main use cases:

Content creation tools

Tool Best for Price range Key features Shopify Ecommerce Free with Shopify Store branding and design, product descriptions, marketing copy, SEO optimization Jasper Marketing content $49–$125/month Long-form content, brand voice customization Copy.ai Social media and ads Free–$36/month Short-form content, multiple languages

Visual content tools

Tool Best for Price range Key features DALL·E Realistic images $20/month High-quality generation, editing capabilities Midjourney Artistic images $10–$60/month Stylized visuals, fine control over aesthetics

Business automation tools

Tool Best for Price range Key features Zapier Workflow automation Free–$100/month More than 5,000 app integrations, no-code setup Make Complex automations Free–$16/month Visual workflow builder, conditional logic n8n Self-hosted automation Free–$20/user/month Privacy-focused, customizable

Customer service tools

Tool Best for Price range Key features Intercom Live chat and AI From $39/month Chatbot builder, knowledge base integration Ada Enterprise support Custom pricing Advanced personalization, multilingual Tidio Small businesses Free–$29/month Easy setup, lead generation features

When selecting AI tools, consider these factors:

Integration capabilities: Does it work with your existing systems?

Does it work with your existing systems? Learning curve: How much time will you need to invest in mastering the tool?

How much time will you need to invest in mastering the tool? Customization options: Can you adapt the tool to your specific business needs?

Can you adapt the tool to your specific business needs? Data privacy: How does the tool handle your and your customers’ data?

How does the tool handle your and your customers’ data? Scalability: Will it grow with your business?

Remember that the most expensive tool isn’t always the best fit. Start with a free trial when available, and focus on tools that solve your specific business challenges rather than those with the most features.

Tips for making money with AI tools

Now that you’re familiar with how to use AI across a variety of industries, here are a few quick tips to consider as you get started.

Find pain points or inefficiencies. Research your niche and its broader industry to find use cases where AI services can add value and resolve customer pain points.

Research your niche and its broader industry to find use cases where AI services can add value and resolve customer pain points. Test it out. Depending on your business idea, use no-code platforms or AI-powered APIs to design a simple product prototype. If you use Shopify, test AI integrations by adding AI-powered Shopify Apps to your store.

Depending on your business idea, use no-code platforms or AI-powered APIs to design a simple product prototype. If you use Shopify, test AI integrations by adding AI-powered Shopify Apps to your store. Ask for feedback and make continuous refinements. Especially as you’re just starting out, it’s important to ask for feedback and refine your products or services based on that constructive criticism.

Recommended reading: Best Artificial Intelligence Apps for a Range of Uses

Realistic earnings potential with AI

One of the most common questions about AI-powered businesses is: How much can I actually earn? While earnings will vary widely based on your skills, time investment, and business model, here’s a realistic breakdown.

AI employment

For specialized AI roles, Glassdoor’s salary data shows that AI/ML engineers earn an average of $170,768 per year in the United States, with a base salary of $125,436 plus additional compensation. Similarly, Machine learning engineers earn an average of $154,676 annually.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, AI data scientists earn a median annual wage of $112,590 as of May 2024. Employment in this field is projected to grow 36% from 2023 to 2033—much faster than average.

These figures represent full-time employment, but they provide a benchmark for what clients might expect to pay for specialized AI expertise.

AI freelancing

According to a 2024 Upwork report, data science and analytics is one of the fastest-growing work categories, with AI modeling and machine learning skills in particularly high demand.

The Robert Half 2025 Technology Salary Guide confirms AI and machine learning skills are among the most sought-after technical capabilities, with 38% of employers actively seeking these skills—creating significant opportunities for freelancers and consultants in this space.

AI-enhanced business models

Beyond freelancing, entrepreneurs are building scalable AI-powered businesses. The key factors that influence your earning potential include:

Specialization: Niche expertise commands higher rates

Niche expertise commands higher rates Results: Demonstrable return on investment (ROI) for clients justifies premium pricing

Demonstrable return on investment (ROI) for clients justifies premium pricing Business model: Productized services and scalable solutions have higher earning ceilings than hourly work

Remember, building a successful AI business takes time. Many entrepreneurs start with side projects while maintaining other income sources, gradually scaling as they gain expertise and clients.

Getting started with AI: beginner roadmap

If you’re new to AI and excited about its potential, here’s a practical roadmap to help you get started without feeling overwhelmed:

1. Develop AI literacy (1 to 2 weeks)

Start by understanding AI fundamentals and capabilities. You don’t need to become a technical expert, but you should understand:

Different types of AI and what they’re good at

Common AI applications in business

Basic terminology and concepts

Resources like DataCamp’s AI learning guide can help you build this foundation quickly.

2. Explore AI tools (2 to 4 weeks)

Begin experimenting with user-friendly AI tools that don’t require technical expertise, like:

AI writing assistants for creating marketing materials

AI image generators for visual content

AI research tools for market analysis

Focus on understanding what these tools can and can’t do well, and how they might fit into your workflow or business model.

3. Identify your opportunity (2 to 4 weeks)

Based on your skills, interests, and market research, choose a specific direction:

Apply AI to your existing business to improve efficiency or offerings

Develop a new AI-enhanced service based on your expertise

Create AI-powered products to solve specific problems

The best opportunities often lie at the intersection of your unique skills and emerging AI capabilities.

4. Build a minimum viable offering (4 to 8 weeks)

Start small with a focused offering that delivers clear value:

Define exactly what you’ll provide and to whom

Set up the necessary tools and workflows

Create a simple website to showcase your offering

Develop a basic marketing strategy to reach your first customers

5. Launch, learn, and iterate

The final step is to get your offering in front of real customers:

Start with a small launch to gather feedback

Measure results and identify improvement areas

Continuously refine your offering based on customer input

Gradually scale as you validate your approach

Remember that successful AI entrepreneurs rarely get everything right on the first try. The key is to start small, learn quickly, and adapt based on real-world feedback.

AI in business: case studies

While many articles promise easy money with AI, the reality is more nuanced. As discussions on entrepreneurship forums reveal, successful AI entrepreneurs don’t typically ask “how to make money” questions—they’re focused on building and scaling their products and services.

So what separates successful AI entrepreneurs from the dreamers? It’s not technical expertise, but strategic application and problem-solving. Research from Precedence Research shows that businesses finding success are applying AI to specific commerce challenges.

Successful approaches typically include:

Domain expertise and AI efficiency: Combining industry knowledge with AI’s scaling capabilities

Combining industry knowledge with AI’s scaling capabilities Problem-first approach: Identifying specific market needs before determining how AI can help

Identifying specific market needs before determining how AI can help Value-added services: Packaging AI capabilities within broader service offerings

Packaging AI capabilities within broader service offerings Continuous learning: Staying current with AI developments while focusing on customer outcomes

How real businesses are using AI

Here’s how some real companies are leveraging AI to drive measurable results.

Sephora’s AI-powered personalization

Sephora, the global beauty retailer, has implemented an AI-driven personalization strategy that transformed its customer experience.

According to a case study by RedressCompliance, Sephora’s AI system analyzes customer data, including purchase history, browsing behavior, and quiz responses to generate tailored product recommendations.

The store also includes consumer AI features, such as:

Virtual artist tool: Uses facial recognition to let customers virtually try on makeup

Sephora’s approach demonstrates how AI can enhance rather than replace the personal elements of shopping.

Wayfair’s AI-powered product tagging

Wayfair, the online home goods retailer, faced a significant challenge with its massive catalog of more than 40 million products. Manual tagging was slow and inconsistent, making it difficult for customers to find relevant items.

According to Snorkel AI’s customer story, Wayfair implemented a machine learning solution to automate and improve their product tagging process.

The results:

10-times faster product labeling compared to manual methods

Significantly improved accuracy in automated product tagging

Better search results for customers

The system works by analyzing product images and descriptions to automatically tag items with attributes like color, style, material, and function. This enables more precise search results and better product recommendations.

H&M’s AI inventory management

H&M, the global fashion retailer, was struggling with excess inventory and inefficient stock distribution across its stores worldwide. According to a case study by DigitalDefynd, H&M implemented an AI-driven demand forecasting system analyzing multiple data points, including:

Historical sales data

Social media trends

Local events and weather patterns

Economic indicators

The implementation helped H&M reduce excess inventory, decrease markdowns, and optimize its supply chain—getting the right products in the right stores at the right time.

These case studies highlight a crucial insight: successful AI implementation isn’t about replacing human decision-making but enhancing it with data-driven intelligence. The companies seeing the greatest ROI are those that use AI to solve specific business problems while maintaining their unique brand.

Common pitfalls to avoid when making money with AI

While AI offers exciting opportunities, there are several common mistakes that can derail your success. Being aware of these pitfalls can save you time, money, and frustration.

Overestimating AI capabilities

Many entrepreneurs fail because they have unrealistic expectations about what AI can do. According to the Project Management Institute, 70% to 80% of AI projects fail due to misaligned expectations and technical limitations.

Current AI excels at pattern recognition, content generation, and data analysis. It still struggles with common sense reasoning and creative problem-solving that requires human judgment. Before building a business around AI, thoroughly test the technology’s capabilities for your specific use case rather than relying on general claims about AI performance.

Neglecting legal and ethical considerations

AI raises complex questions about copyright, data privacy, transparency, and bias. TechTarget highlights how businesses using AI may face ethical and legal challenges related to data privacy, security, and intellectual property.

Before launching an AI business:

Research relevant regulations in your industry and target markets

Develop clear policies for data handling and AI usage

Consider how you’ll address potential bias in AI outputs

Be transparent with customers about how and where AI is used

Building technology-first instead of customer-first

The most common mistake is developing an AI solution and then searching for a problem it might solve. Successful entrepreneurs do the opposite—they identify customer problems first, then determine if and how AI can help solve them.

Start by understanding your target audience’s pain points through market research, surveys, and direct conversations. Only then should you consider which AI tools might help address those needs most effectively.

Commoditizing your AI services

With AI tools becoming increasingly accessible, offering “AI-powered services” alone isn’t enough.

To avoid becoming a commodity:

Develop proprietary methodologies or frameworks to enhance AI outputs

Build industry-specific knowledge to inform how you apply AI

Create unique datasets or training approaches to improve results

Focus on outcomes and results rather than the technology itself

Neglecting the human experience

While AI can automate many tasks, the human touch remains essential for building trust and delivering exceptional customer experiences.

The most successful AI businesses:

Maintain clear communication about where and how AI is used

Provide human oversight and intervention at critical points

Use AI to enhance rather than replace human creativity and judgment

Focus on building relationships technology alone cannot create

Remember that AI should serve your customers and your business goals—not the other way around. The technology is a means to an end, not the end itself.

Future-proofing your AI business

As AI technology evolves rapidly, building a sustainable business requires thinking ahead. Here are strategies to ensure your AI-powered venture remains relevant and competitive:

Stay adaptable with a hybrid approach

Rather than betting everything on a single AI technology or platform, develop a hybrid approach combining multiple tools and methodologies. According to MIT Sloan Management Review, the most resilient AI implementations combine automated systems with human expertise.

This might mean:

Using different AI models for different tasks

Maintaining human oversight for critical decisions

Developing processes that can adapt as technologies change

Focus on solving problems, not selling technology

Businesses built around specific AI technologies may become obsolete as those technologies evolve. Instead, focus your business on solving specific customer problems that will persist regardless of technological changes.

For example, rather than marketing yourself as a “GPT specialist,” position your business as helping clients “increase conversion rates through personalized customer experiences.” This need will remain even as the underlying technology changes.

Invest in continuous learning

The half-life of AI skills is shorter than in many other fields, with Harvard Business Review research finding technical skills in some fields can become outdated in as little as two and a half years.

Set aside dedicated time each week to:

Experiment with new AI tools and techniques

Follow industry publications and research

Participate in relevant communities and forums

Take courses on emerging technologies

Build proprietary assets

While AI tools themselves may become commoditized, you can build lasting value through:

Proprietary data: Collect and curate unique datasets that improve AI performance

Collect and curate unique datasets that improve AI performance Custom workflows: Develop unique processes that combine AI with human expertise

Develop unique processes that combine AI with human expertise Industry-specific knowledge: Apply AI to specialized domains where general solutions fall short

Apply AI to specialized domains where general solutions fall short Brand and relationships: Build trust that transcends the specific technologies you use

By anticipating these changes, you can position your business to adapt quickly rather than being caught off guard.

Start your AI business using Shopify

Considering how far artificial intelligence tools have come in recent years, you have access to a lot of AI solutions to help turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality. Commerce-driven AI makes it easier than ever for you to start and grow an online store that can compete in your industry.

Whether you’re writing product descriptions or need help turning live chats into checkouts, Shopify Magic supports you 24/7 with the powerful AI tools to help your ecommerce business thrive.

Build an online store with AI Create a website in minutes with the AI store builder. Describe your brand or products to generate a free custom theme that fits your idea. Try it now

New AI plan aims to help Michigan gain up to $70 billion in economic impact and create 130,000 good-paying jobs

In the next 5 to 10 years, AI is expected to reshape up to 2.8 million jobs in the state

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich – Building on Michigan’s Statewide Workforce Plan, the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) released the AI and the Workforce Plan to take advantage of the opportunities for growth presented by widespread adoption of artificial intelligence technologies. If Michigan takes the lead in developing AI strategy, infrastructure and workforce training, the state could gain up to $70 billion in economic impact and create 130,000 good-paying jobs. Michigan continues to be a leader nationally in workforce development, and this report is elevating current workforce development initiatives and identifying potential future actions as a part of comprehensive approach to enhance Michigan’s economic growth.

“Working with AI technology helps prepare our workforce to lead with the skills and tools Michiganders need to thrive in a rapidly evolving economy,” said Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II. “Through investing in our workforce and the evolving needs of employers in our state, we are ensuring everyone has a fair chance at economic mobility and a better future so anyone can make it in Michigan.”

In the next 5 to 10 years, AI is expected to reshape up to 2.8 million jobs in the state. Manufacturing, a key part of Michigan’s economy, will especially need workers to learn new skills — about 75% of jobs in that sector will require some form of upskilling, even though only a small number may be fully automated. AI and automation are closely linked, with AI enabling machines to take on not just simple tasks, but also more complex ones.

“Michigan needs to take action now to make sure we stay ahead in the future – creating a resilient economy for our residents and employers,” said LEO Director Susan Corbin. “Our future competitiveness is built upon how we learn, leverage and lead in building skills for an AI-enabled economy. By modernizing training infrastructure and making learning flexible, accessible and adaptable to real-world job demands, we’re fueling growth and creating an economy for Michigan that is strong and stable for generations to come.”

The AI plan is built on three pillars:

Invest in skill development for the AI economy. Michigan’s ability to stay competitive in an AI-driven economy depends on how well it builds and adapts its workforce through modern, accessible and real-world training. By embedding AI skills into education and ensuring broad access across communities, the state can boost economic mobility and lead in the future of work. Understand and guide the workforce landscape for knowledge and skilled trade workers. AI is influencing how work is performed across all sectors in Michigan — not just by changing how tasks are completed, but by transforming how work is done. By proactively preparing workers with adaptable skills and clear pathways into growing industries, Michigan can lead this transition and ensure everyone has a chance to succeed in the evolving economy. Enable businesses to adapt to the AI economy.

AI can boost Michigan’s economic competitiveness, but many small and medium-sized businesses lack the resources to adopt it effectively. By providing support like technical assistance and shared tools, Michigan can help these businesses grow, innovate and create jobs — ensuring they play a key role in the state’s AI-driven future.

Through action, embracing AI and its transformative power can accelerate workforce development and drive economic growth. Michigan is currently No. 1 in the nation in credential attainment for adults, No. 3 in the nation for helping adults get employed and top 10 in the nation for Registered Apprenticeships. Michigan is ready to make our state prepared for the future — by embracing the potential of AI, we have the chance to boost workforce development and support inclusive economic growth.

“Figuring out how to implement and leverage new AI strategies in an effective way is essential to small business growth and success in Michigan,” said President & CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan Brian Calley. AI continues to open up opportunities that didn’t exist before and it’s imperative to use it as a tool to support the creativity, ingenuity, and high-quality customer service that small business owners provide to their communities every day. We appreciate the Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity for their leadership in starting this important discussion that has the opportunity to transform how business is done now and into the future.”

By weaving AI into our education, training and business systems, we can help people gain the skills they need to succeed in today’s job market and prepare for the opportunities of the future.

“Preparing Michiganders for an AI-enabled economy means investing in education at every stage, from early exposure to STEM to providing accessible pathways to postsecondary education and training,” said Director of the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea. “At MiLEAP, we’re committed to helping people gain the skills and credentials that lead to good-paying, high-demand jobs. By removing barriers and expanding access to lifelong learning, we’re empowering individuals to lead, innovate and contribute meaningfully to our state’s future success.”

“Michigan has a storied history of adapting business processes to new technology. With the new AI and the Workforce Plan, we can continue to push the boundaries of innovation in the AI transition, while working alongside our network of trusted partners to lead this transition responsibly,” said Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) Senior Vice President of Regional Development Matt McCauley. “As a top ten state for research and development and home to recent investments including a $1.2 billion AI research facility outside of Ann Arbor, we can and will lead the emerging AI economy. If you want to make AI part of your business, we want you to ‘make it’ in Michigan.”

View the AI and the Workforce Plan online.