Become a millionaire with ChatGPT? This is the dream that many influencers sell to gullible Internet users. Chain articles, fake formations, boat videos… Behind the AI hide strategies as old as the Web!
“In this video, I present three innovative and profitable businesses that will allow you to earn money in less than 24 hours thanks to the use of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence developed by OpenAI. Find out how to use this technology to increase your income quickly. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to discover never-before-seen ways to make money with AI.” There are thousands of videos like this on YouTube and social media right now. ChatGPT, the conversational chatbot capable of answering many queries in fluent and natural language, has been driving the Web crazy since its public release in November 2022, especially since it’s available to everyone for free – although a paid subscription is coming in. And it wasn’t long before some were looking to exploit this technology for dishonest purposes, Many hackers seek to use it to easily create malicious code and develop new attacks, while others use AI to enrich their fake profiles on dating sites or their phishing campaigns. Some are simply looking to scam users with scam ChatGPT mobile apps, which are currently proliferating on the Play Store and App Store.
Many influencers and so-called experts in marketing/CEO/business/finance/self-entrepreneurship – cross out the unnecessary mentions – were quick to see in AI the perfect tool to easily fill their pockets. As raised The Verge, videos selling or selling training, advice or tutorials intended to learn how to handle ChatGPT correctly abound on the Internet – they accumulate many views, which also allows you to garner maximum advertising revenue. But if it was only that! Many videos, whether on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, imagine ways, sometimes dishonest, to make money by exploiting the chatbot. Spoiler: it usually never works.
ChatGPT: using AI to get rich on the backs of others
“5 ways to earn 100 € per day thanks to artificial intelligence ChatGPT”, “Earn money now with ChatGPT! (this thing is crazy)”, “How to make money with ChatGPT!? (3 businesses over 1,000 €/month)“. These are some of the titles of videos that you come across when you write “ChatGPT money” on YouTube. These give “tips” to become “rich” in no time, and as much to say that they are not the most honest! Indeed, influencers advise Internet users to register on a platform listing freelance workers, such as Fiverr, Upwork or Malt, to sell their writing services. their first client, the “independent editors” then use AI to write the order in record time. All they have to do is submit the corrections requested by the sponsor until they obtain a satisfactory text and pocket the reward – not everyone will think of verifying the authenticity of the text with the official tool offered by OpenAI or third-party solutions, such as GPTZero.
Another suggestion from influencers: have the AI generate ideas for hit videos for YouTube, including a complete script, such as “the 10 most beautiful cities in the world”, “the 15 most dangerous beaches”, etc. Then just add royalty-free photos to the video, and voila, you’re done! It is also possible to create tailor-made training courses by ChatGPT and sell them on the Udemy platform to other users, or to answer basic questions – “How to lose weight?” – on question and answer sites like Quora by putting many affiliate links – each click will generate income. A little more original: use ChatGPT to write a book, for children for example, then illustrate it using an image generator like DALL-E to sell the final result on the self-publishing platform of ‘Amazon. Yes, scammers are not lacking in inventiveness!
Influencers: a beautiful image that hides many scams
First of all, let’s remember that ChatGPT is in beta and therefore the AI makes many errors. In addition to the use of nonsense phrases with poor vocabulary and syntax, she has a tendency to “hallucinate”, that is, to invent and confidently assert false information. Sam Altman, one of the co-founders of OpenAI, himself said that she was “incredibly limited, but good enough at some things to create a deceptive impression of grandeur” and that would be “a mistake to rely on it for anything important right now.” We can also legitimately ask ourselves: if the methods given by said influencers work so well, why share them? Simply because it’s windy! They do not make money by applying their advice themselves, but by selling it to their community. In addition to the advertising revenue generated by the large number of views on their videos, they take the opportunity to promote and sell expensive training to credulous people or people who have trouble making ends meet to supposedly fully exploit AI.
In itself, this type of scam is not new and has existed since the advent of the Internet. It is part of the tendency to want to earn a lot of money without doing anything and many means, again not always ethical, exist for this. So some people specialize in online marketing, NFTs, cryptocurrency or dropshipping – the sellers never store and ship the sold products, they just produce attractive sites and advertisements with fake promotions and shameful prices (see our article). In all cases, the process is similar: sell a magic solution to earn a lot of money to Internet users who lack knowledge. In addition to being ineffective, these processes can sometimes cause those who try it to lose significant sums. In January, the AVI Collective (Collectif d’Aide aux Victimes d’Influenceurs) also initiated legal proceedings against Marc Blata, a former reality TV candidate, and his wife. Nade Blata for NFT scams and copy-trading activities. It is time for the Government to legislate on the issue!