I replaced my freelance content creator with AI and I'm conflicted about it
I sell handmade jewelry on Etsy and Instagram. For the past year I was paying a freelancer $300/month for product videos and social content. She did good work. Really talented. But turnaround was 4-5 days, revisions took another 2, and I kept missing the window when a new collection dropped.
Two months ago I said screw it and started learning AI generation. The learning curve was brutal. First two weeks I was producing garbage, weird lighting, bracelets with wrong bead counts, voiceovers that sounded like a robot reading a funeral speech. I almost went back to the freelancer.
What eventually clicked was finding the right workflow. Phone photos of new pieces, run them through AI image gen for styled backgrounds, turn the best ones into 10-second video clips, add music. I ended up using HeyVid because I got tired of juggling Runway and Midjourney separately but thats not really the point of this post.
The point is: I now produce 5-6 content batches a week instead of 2. Same-day turnaround. My IG engagement went up just from posting more consistently. And my content budget dropped from $300 to about $30.
But heres what I'm conflicted about. The AI content is fine. It's good enough. Gets engagement. But it doesnt have the creative eye my freelancer had. She'd suggest angles and concepts I never would've thought of. The AI gives me exactly what I ask for, nothing more.
I'm also painfully aware that I just cut someone's income by $3600/year. She was understanding about it but I still feel weird.
I guess the takeaway is: AI made me faster and cheaper but not necessarily better. For where my business is right now, faster and cheaper wins. Ask me again in a year.