Upwork Unveils Top 10 Generative AI-Related Searches and Hires in First Half of 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ: UPWK), the world’s work marketplace and the preeminent destination for businesses to find trusted AI talent, today released new platform data examining the skillset make up of talent and the search and hiring behaviors of companies in relation to Upwork’s fastest-growing category: Generative AI. The analysis by Upwork’s Research Institute found that businesses are progressing their understanding of generative AI as they increasingly move from searching and hiring for singular generative AI tools toward generative AI applications and services.

Recent Upwork research reported in June surveying 1,400 U.S. business leaders found that companies will hire more as a result of generative AI: 49% of hiring managers say they will hire more independent talent and 49% say they will hire more full-time employees. AI was the fastest growing category on Upwork in the first half of 2023,¹ with generative AI job posts on the platform up more than 1000% in Q2 2023 compared to the end of last year, while related searches increased more than 1500% in the same time period. This sentiment around hiring plus the surge of activity from companies served as strong early indications that businesses are paying significant attention to the opportunities generative AI can provide.

The new platform data uncovers which generative AI skills are most in-demand by companies,² evolving behaviors, and the growing supply of independent talent with expert generative AI skills.

From January 1 to June 30, 2023, the top 10 generative AI-related searches from companies on Upwork include:

1. ChatGPT
2. BERT
3. Stable Diffusion
4. TensorFlow
5. AI Chatbot
6. Generative AI
7. Image Processing
8. PyTorch
9. Natural Language Processing (NLP)
10. Bard

In the same timeframe, the fastest growing generative AI-related searches on Upwork (Q2 2023 vs. Q1 2023) include:³

1. AI Content Creation
2. Gradio
3. Azure OpenAI
4. Convolutional Neural Network
5. Large Language Models (LLMs)
6. Generative AI
7. AI Chatbot
8. Midjourney
9. Prompt Engineering
10. PyTorch

The data shows an increasing shift in search activity, as businesses move from searching for singular generative AI tools to searching for generative AI applications and services, signaling that leaders and hiring managers are progressing their understanding of generative AI and its diverse use cases.

Upwork also examined projects that clients ultimately hired for to better understand where companies are actually starting their generative AI work. In the first half of 2023, Upwork saw a powerful connection between the top searches by businesses and projects they hired for, indicating the growing supply and availability of independent talent with expert generative AI skills.

The top 10 generative AI-related projects clients hired freelancers for include:

1. ChatGPT
2. Natural Language Processing (NLP)
3. TensorFlow
4. Image Processing
5. PyTorch
6. AI Content Creation
7. Midjourney
8. AI Chatbot
9. Model Tuning
10. Stable Diffusion

“The growing demand for AI applications and services is important as true business value for generative AI lies not in a singular AI tool, but in understanding the capabilities and diverse use cases for this technology. The search terms companies are using and what they will hire for are evolving to be more sophisticated, and we think we'll continue to see that understanding deepen over time,” said Kelly Monahan, Managing Director, Upwork Research Institute. “We’re also seeing the talent supply on Upwork rise to meet that evolving demand, which is really impressive given how quickly this demand has appeared on our marketplace, and in the world broadly.”

For full findings and further insights visit https://www.upwork.com/blog/generative-ai-marketplace and for more generative AI research from Upwork, visit https://www.upwork.com/press/research.

To learn more about how Upwork is connecting companies with AI talent, visit the Upwork AI Services hub: https://www.upwork.com/ai.

Methodology
Skills data was sourced from the Upwork database and is from January 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023. Skills analysis was completed on our generative AI skills category. Quarter-over-quarter growth was estimated by comparing the number of times the skill appeared in a client search to estimate demand or on a freelancer profile to estimate supply.

About Upwork
Upwork is the world’s work marketplace that connects businesses with independent talent from across the globe. We serve everyone from one-person startups to large, Fortune 100 enterprises with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent community earned over $3.8 billion on Upwork in 2022 across more than 10,000 skills in categories including website & app development, creative & design, customer support, finance & accounting, consulting, and operations. Learn more at upwork.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X, formerly Twitter.

Contact:
Christine Kim
press@upwork.com

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¹ Compared to the second half of 2022, as measured by the total number of professionals hired.
² This is data analyzed from logged in client searches.
³ Where is ChatGPT on this? ChatGPT has a large quantity of searches (10k+) that makes capturing a percentage change of growth in a short period of time difficult given the numerous emergent technologies in this space. Our data shows a 54% growth between Q1 and Q2 2023.