‘Get richer with ChatGPT’, ‘Making money online got easier’, ‘How you can make money with ChatGPT’, ‘Access my database of 125+ ChatGPT prompts to help you make money online for $5’.

Wait, stop, calm down!

So, if you’re fed up with all these paid advertisements trying to push different courses down your throats, luring you to make ‘easy’ money using ChatGPT, welcome to the club! Search engines and social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn are brimming with such posts. These ‘influencers’ make ChatGPT seem like an easy money-minting machine.

But have people actually been able to monetise ChatGPT and its free version? Well, a lot of individuals claim to have been leveraging its capabilities to generate income. From branding to app-creation to providing writing services, they claim it opens avenues to earn ‘free money’ whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, content creator, or a freelancer.

You must’ve also come across tons of articles listing numerous ways to rake in the greens. These articles usually either bank on the chatbot’s capabilities to code and hint at it being used to build apps or websites ‘without any prior knowledge’ or for affiliate marketing, content marketing, optimising video production, or becoming a prompting expert amongst many other things.

However, there are some who claim to have made money this way. Ukrainian entrepreneur Ihor Stefurak built a Chrome extension using ChatGPT despite having zero coding knowledge. He claims to have generated $1000 in revenue within just 24 hours of launching the extension. 

Many such claims and tutorials are flying fast and thick on YouTube, claiming to help make $100 a day but seem to know nothing about the tool, the model it is based on or even its name. Some coolly call it ChatGTP!

Meanwhile, there has also been a notable surge in AI-written ebooks on Amazon. These are ranked as high as 50,377 on the Kindle book store and also have five-star ratings in the hundreds. According to reports, as of mid-February there were over 200 e-books in Amazon’s Kindle store, listing ChatGPT as the author or co-author. The number may not seem like a lot but the actual number may be much higher since many authors do not disclose in the Kindle store that their book was written entirely, or in part, by a computer because Amazon’s policies do not require it.

In fact, the market is so saturated that making decent money out of this is improbable. According to Reuters, Brett Schickler, who wrote a children’s book titled, ‘The Wise Little Squirrel: A Tale of Saving and Investing’, (sold at the Amazon Kindle store for $2.99 and $9.99 for a printed version) netted less than $100.

Can Only Enhance 

The reality is that ChatGPT alone cannot guarantee financial success. While ChatGPT can be an invaluable tool in reducing your workload, it is crucial to understand that it is not a magical solution that will automatically generate top-tier content for you. If you lack familiarity with a particular subject, you will struggle to differentiate between good and poor quality content.

For example, let’s consider a scenario where you follow someone’s advice on starting a successful blogging business with the assistance of ChatGPT despite having no prior experience in content creation. Even if ChatGPT generates a basic piece of content, you might perceive it as exceptional because you lack the knowledge of what constitutes top-tier content.

What you can actually do is create videos on how to make money with AI. As they say, ‘When there’s a gold rush, sell shovels and pickaxes’. 

On a serious note, what you can actually do is automate parts of your workflow with ChatGPT APIs, which are free to use. One can take up email affiliate marketing, content marketing, or learn and preach better avenues like prompt engineering.

It is crucial not to be deceived by influencers who disseminate misleading content. Do not believe them when they claim that ChatGPT holds the secret to success or that it can effortlessly make you money. Instead, focus on learning and honing your skills, utilising ChatGPT as a tool to support you in accomplishing your goals.