Fiverr, a leading gig marketplace, has announced a suite of innovative tools aimed at empowering freelancers to thrive in an industry increasingly disrupted by generative AI technology. At an event on Tuesday, Fiverr unveiled its Personal AI Creation Model, which allows freelancers to train AI on their bodies of work and charge customers for access, ensuring they receive proper credit and compensation.

The move is seen as a strategic response to the growing threat posed by cheap, widely available generative AI tools, which have led to increased competition for fewer roles. A recent report found that AI tools like image generators and OpenAI's ChatGPT have resulted in more competition for writers, programmers, and app developers, with the trend of replacing freelancers accelerating over time.

Fiverr's Personal AI Creation Model is designed to put freelancers back in control, enabling them to configure an AI model trained on their previous work, such as artwork, code, or song lyrics, and set prices for its use. Freelancers will retain ownership over work generated by their model, and buyers will have the flexibility to choose between AI-generated work, human-created work, or a seamless blend of both.

The program, which costs $25 per month, will initially be available to "thousands" of top, vetted freelancers, with Fiverr using advanced language models and generative frameworks to drive the capability. The company has stressed that it won't use gig worker data to train in-house models that might compete with workers, and that the Personal AI Creation Model can be disabled at any time.

In addition to the Personal AI Creation Model, Fiverr also launched its AI-powered chatbot assistant, dubbed "Personal AI Assistant," which is essentially a customer service chatbot fine-tuned on contractors' chats with clients. The assistant, which is customizable, can provide actionable business insights, handle routine tasks, and respond on behalf of a contractor when they're offline.

Fiverr has emphasized that freelancers will have control over which specific chats the Personal AI Assistant uses for fine-tuning, and that they can review and adjust the assistant's responses during the set-up process. The Personal AI Assistant is available for $29 per month or included with Fiverr's Seller Plus Premium plan.

In a related move, Fiverr announced a program that will give top-performing contractors on Fiverr shares in the company, which is publicly traded. While details on how awardees will be determined and the number of shares they can expect to receive are still unclear, the program is seen as a gesture of goodwill towards freelancers.

Fiverr's market cap has been around $1.16 billion, with share performance fluctuating over the past year. The company's fortunes have recently taken a turn for the better, and the launch of these innovative tools is expected to further boost its prospects.

As the gig economy continues to evolve, Fiverr's bold move is likely to have significant implications for the industry. By empowering freelancers with AI-powered tools, the company is not only addressing the threat posed by generative AI but also positioning itself as a leader in the gig marketplace.

As the industry watches with bated breath, one thing is clear – Fiverr's innovative approach is set to revolutionize the way freelancers work, and its impact will be felt far beyond the gig economy.