"Better Ask for Forgiveness than Permission": Practices and Policies of AI Disclosure in Freelance Work

TL;DR

This study explores AI disclosure practices in freelancing, revealing a gap between worker passive disclosure and client expectations, emphasizing the need for clearer policies to build trust and accountability.

Contribution

It uncovers the mismatch in AI disclosure perceptions between workers and clients and highlights the importance of explicit guidelines in AI-mediated freelance work.

Findings

Workers often only disclose AI when asked

Clients struggle to recognize AI-assisted work

Lack of clear policies causes misinterpretation of expectations

Abstract

The growing use of AI applications among freelance workers is reshaping trust and relationships with clients. This paper investigates how both workers and clients perceive AI use and disclosure in the freelance economy through a three-stage study: interviews with workers and two survey studies with workers and clients. Findings first reveal a key expectation gap around disclosure: Workers often adopt passive disclosure practices, revealing AI use only when asked, as they assume clients can already detect it. Clients, however, are far less confident in recognizing AI-assisted work and prefer proactive disclosure. A second finding highlights the role of unclear or absent client AI policies, which leave workers consistently misinterpreting clients' expectations for AI use and disclosure. Together, these gaps point to the need for clearer guidelines and practices for AI disclosure. Insights extend beyond freelancing, offering implications for trust, accountability, and policy design in other AI-mediated work domains.