Companies rushing to replace human work with AI are now paying humans to fix AI’s screwups.
The BBC reports a growing side hustle for writers and coders hired just to clean up AI-generated mistakes. Those skilled at this are cashing in.
Sarah Skidd, a US product marketing manager, revealed how she was brought in to redo AI-written copy that was “very basic” and “vanilla.” She spent 20 hours rewriting it from scratch. Her $100/hour rate cost the client $2,000—likely more than if a human had done it originally. 
Sophie Warner, co-owner of UK digital agency Create Designs, said clients now hit up ChatGPT first before calling professionals. One client went three days without a website after a ChatGPT code update failed, forcing a $500 fix that should have taken 15 minutes.
Warner says her agency often charges investigation fees to find out what went wrong, since clients don’t want to admit AI caused the problem. Fixing AI errors takes longer than hiring experts from the start.
Neither Skidd nor Warner opposes AI, but both warn against thinking it can replace skilled human work.
Sophie Warner:
"While it seems like a quick and inexpensive option, AI rarely takes into account unique brand identity, target demographics, or conversion-focused design."
"It simply cannot replace the value of human expertise and context in our industry."
Sarah Skidd on job security:
"Maybe I’m being naive, but I think if you are very good, you won’t have trouble."
More on AI fails: BBC report
