AI and Money Making – a Good Idea or a No-Goer?

Vicky Parry 5th Apr 2023 One Comment

Reading Time: 4 minutes

AI and making money…

The use of Artificial Intelligence is very much in the news at the moment, with the tech wizards pushing all kinds of AI on us, from programs that make art to ones that write screenplays.

But these geniuses have already started rapidly back-tracking as they realise we should probably proceed with caution, before computers start removing humans from strategic decisions and creating a Terminator-type scenario where it’s humans versus machines.

That may seem on the alarmist side, but AI really is a new thing and anything that powerful and unknown should be treated with extreme caution. For example, the ‘art’ and ‘writing’ AI bots aren’t coming up with new ideas (they’re mining the ever-unreliable internet for content) or being ‘creative’ (merely creating an amalgam of work already done by others.)

There is little to no accountability for AI programs that use any of this data, even if it breaches copyright or puts people out of jobs, which is already happening worldwide in many industries.

So where does that leave us with using AI to generate money-making ideas? We looked into both aspects of this: first of all, the use of AI to make money for your business or yourself; and second, using AI to come up with money-making ideas, to see if AI could outperform the human mind.

How AI can make your business money
Using AI to come up with money-making ideas
Pros and cons of AI and money making
Further reading

How AI can make your business money

Chatbots

AI-powered chatbots can provide 24/7 support and assistance to customers, and you’ve probably already used one – on a banking app, for example. These bots can answer questions, help with purchases, or even help you track your orders.

Predictive Modelling

You can use AI to create predictive models that help you make financial predictions, which can then be sold on to investors, financial institutions and other companies.

Content creation

AI can generate a LOT of content, based on algorithms and data, which may enable a business to scale and personalise their content BUT beware: the quality of the generated content is highly variable and you’ll still need to personally fact-check the content generated for inaccuracies or unusual wording.

e-commerce

AI analyses customer behaviour and preferences, to personalise the shopping experience for each individual customer by recommending products, target customers with tailored marketing campaigns, etc.

Trading using AI and Machine learning algorithms

AI and Machine learning algorithms can potentially earn you passive income, but again, you have a to do a LOT of studying up on the subject first, as it’s a highly nuanced and complicated field.

Generating AI Content

The most-used methods to monetise content is to put advertisements on your blog posts or website, or publish sponsored social media posts, BUT you need to create unique and engaging content regularly to really see some money come in.

Using AI for Web Design

Running your own website is an excellent medium by which to reach more audiences and online customers.

Using AI to come up with money-making ideas

We wanted to use an AI program to come up with a list of ways to make money. Does this rival our own human brainstorming sessions, we wanted to know.

So we tried Anyword, an AI site that generates ideas in various ways. We used the Prompt feature to come up with the following list of ways to make money at home, to see if it generated a list of great ideas.

What it came up with, and bear in mind this was its first attempt based on our simple premise of ‘come up with ten ways to make money at home’, with this list:

1. Start a Blog: Use your knowledge, skills and experience to start a blog and generate income through ads, affiliate marketing and sponsored posts.
2. Become a Virtual Assistant: Leverage your skills to help others in completing tasks from the comfort of your own home.
3. Do Freelance Work: Whether it’s writing, graphic design, programming or another skill, take advantage of opportunities for freelance work.
4. Take Paid Surveys: Share your opinion with companies who pay you for it.
5. Create an Online Course: If you are an expert on a subject, why not share it with others by creating an online course?
6. Publish an eBook: There are plenty of online marketplaces available where you can share your work with others.
7. Sell Photos Online: If you are a budding photographer, selling photos online can be a great way to generate income.
8. Become a Tutor: Tutoring is a great way to share your expertise with students. You can teach virtually, in-person, or both.
9. Create an App: Tap into the power of the mobile app market and create your own app.
10. Create a Drop-shipping Store: Drop-shipping stores allow you to create your own e-commerce store without having to keep inventory or ship orders.

Now, the above are all ideas we’ve discussed plenty of times on MoneyMagpie, and they’re pretty good. But they’re nothing new, and simply based on a skim of the internet to collect ideas to make a list.

Pros and Cons of AI and Money Making

The pros are that each of these could be further researched, as is true of most things: don’t trust the internet to come up with all your answers, or for those answers to be 100% accurate or reliable.

The cons of this kind of AI is that, if your goal is to take the effort and time out of thinking and researching such things as looking for ways to make money, you may be limiting your own search by relying on a computer to do it for you. Part of the brilliance of the human brain is in thinking laterally – using personal experience and unique thought processes that just can’t be mined by computer intelligence.

Using BOTH of these techniques seems to be what pro-AI companies are pushing right now: use the AI as a kicking off point that then starts conversations and ideas in your own mind or within your own team to generate ideas. It’s certainly given us a lot to think about!

AI and Money Making – a Good Idea or a No-Goer?