Tech freelancers are split on whether AI will make or break their careers

New research from The Accountancy Partnership finds 43.1 percent of tech freelancers expect AI to boost their industry, while 36.3 percent fear it will replace them, as creatives go further and say the impact will be negative

The Accountancy Partnership survey of 1,060 freelancers finds tech professionals divided on AI, with 43.1 percent expecting a positive impact and 36.3 percent fearing replacement.

Tech freelancers are divided on whether artificial intelligence will help or harm their industry, with 43.1 percent expecting a positive impact and 36.3 percent expecting a negative one, according to new research from The Accountancy Partnership.

The survey of 1,060 freelancers and self-employed professionals lands as AI coding tools, agentic developers and automation platforms push deeper into the work that has historically sustained independent technologists, with direct implications for how EdTech and workforce training providers teach AI skills.

The data points to a split workforce, one already using AI day to day while questioning what those tools mean for long-term demand. Creative professionals are more pessimistic than tech freelancers, with 43.3 percent saying AI will negatively affect their role, and around one in five expecting a positive impact.

Freelancers are using AI while worrying about AI

Lee Murphy, Managing Director at The Accountancy Partnership, says the results reflect the complex relationship between technology professionals and the tools they help create. "The tech industry has always evolved alongside new technologies, and artificial intelligence is simply the latest transformation shaping how developers and IT professionals work," he says.

Murphy says many freelancers are already folding AI into their workflows. "AI can help automate repetitive coding tasks, generate documentation and assist with debugging. For many freelancers, that can free up time to focus on more complex or strategic work," he says. But the pace of change is unsettling. "When new technologies emerge this quickly, it's natural for professionals to question how their roles might evolve. Some freelancers may worry that automation could reduce demand for certain tasks," he adds.

Businesses swapping humans for AI now a named threat

Across all sectors, 13.9 percent of self-employed respondents name businesses using AI instead as the single biggest threat to their industry, placing automation directly in competition with client demand as an industry-level risk. A further 28.7 percent of creatives say they believe AI will negatively affect the sector and their jobs.

The findings feed into a wider debate over AI and white-collar work, with analysts warning that automation is already shifting roles across software development, finance and marketing, even as technology leaders argue AI is more likely to change how people work than remove jobs entirely.

AI skills now the dividing line for freelance survival

Murphy says the freelancers most likely to come out ahead are the ones treating AI as a skill to learn rather than a threat to ignore. "Those who learn how to integrate new tools into their workflows often gain a competitive advantage. In many cases, the professionals who understand emerging technologies best are the ones who shape how those technologies are used," he says.

He adds that "Developers have always worked alongside evolving tools, whether that was the rise of cloud computing, automation frameworks or low-code platforms. Artificial intelligence is likely to become another tool that changes how work is done rather than removing the need for skilled professionals."

The data lines up with the direction universities, bootcamps and corporate learning providers are already moving, embedding AI literacy, prompt engineering and machine learning fundamentals into mainstream tech training. The open question is whether that provision reaches freelancers, who sit outside employer-funded L&D budgets, or whether the AI skills gap becomes the deciding factor in who keeps winning work.