Why Artists Have Better Chances Than Office Workers in the Age of AI

I came across a piece of news that feels truly massive - Fiverr is laying off around 250 employees, nearly 30% of its workforce. The company is returning to startup mode, as CEO Micha Kaufman put it, which essentially means cutting down to minimal administrative resources. A platform where thousands of people around the world earn their living is now shifting its focus toward artificial intelligence.

But what does this really mean?

In essence, it’s a signal that the very model of freelance work is changing. The first to take the hit were Fiverr’s own employees. If a major global player like this has to drastically shrink its staff, it’s a sign that making money in this space is getting harder. It’s a strong incentive to rethink how we work - not only if you’re inside the company, but in general. The age of stability is over, and we’re entering a transition period where every profession will, in one way or another, have to adapt, transform, or risk disappearing.

And yet, while the internet is full of alarmist posts about how illustrators and designers are about to become obsolete, I think we’re looking in the wrong direction. Creative professions like illustration, design, and art have always lived with instability. In times of crisis, it is precisely artists and creators who are forced to reinvent themselves in order to survive. And so it will be in the age of AI: artists, designers, illustrators, and other creatives will simply reinvent their craft once again - something they’ve done countless times before.

The real question is: what happens to administrators, salespeople, managers, and other specialists whose work is built mostly on routine tasks? In my view, these professions face the greatest risk. AI does not compete with creativity - it replaces roles that rely on repetition and predictability. I’d even draw a parallel with the Industrial Revolution in 18th-century Britain. Back then, manual labor gave way to machines, workshops closed one after another, and yet that upheaval propelled the economy forward and launched the era of mass production.

We are standing at a similar threshold today. It’s unclear whether this transition will bring the same scale of consequences, but the pattern is visible. Perhaps after the information age, we are now moving into the intelligence age - one where algorithms are more likely to replace routine labor than creative work.

Photo by Anastasia Petrovich

Author: Galina Bakinova

Date: 24.09.2025

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