The Future Is Now: 10 AI Side Hustles to Try Today

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AI is the wave of the future, and it’s moving faster than most people expected. That doesn’t mean you’ll instantly be great at it—there’s a learning curve, like anything else. Just because AI can handle the heavy lifting doesn’t mean these AI side hustles are effortless or completely hands-off.

Let’s look at how you can harness the power of AI and put a little money in your pocket.

1. Start a Faceless YouTube Channel Using AI

You don’t need to be on camera to build a YouTube channel that earns money. AI tools like Pictory, Synthesia, and ElevenLabs make it possible to create entire videos using just text. These platforms can generate voiceovers, visuals, and editing automatically.

You can write a script, plug it in, and end up with a full video that looks professional. The voiceovers sound natural, and you can choose from different accents and tones. You don’t need editing skills or a big budget to start.

Certain topics perform better with faceless content. Channels about finance, productivity, tech, and scary stories tend to attract more views. These niches have large audiences and don’t require a personal touch to keep people watching.

Strong keyword research helps your videos reach more people. Tools like VidIQ and TubeBuddy help you determine what people search for on YouTube. You can see what’s trending and how hard it is to rank for certain topics.

Using the right keywords in your titles, descriptions, and tags helps more people find your videos. It gives your channel a better chance of growing without spending money on ads.

There are several ways to make money from a faceless channel. You can turn on YouTube ads once you meet the requirements. You can add affiliate links under your videos and earn a commission when people buy through them. Some creators also sell digital products that match their content.

Most people start with one way to earn and add more as their channel grows. You don’t have to do everything at once. The key is to stay consistent and keep improving your videos.

2. Create AI-Powered Printables for Niche Audiences

Selling digital printables is one of the easiest ways to earn online without a significant upfront cost. Inside ChatGPT, you can use specific prompts to generate content like daily journal questions, goal-setting frameworks, fitness tracking tables, and budget planning checklists. Typing in something like “Create a 30-day gratitude journal with daily prompts“ gives you usable text you can drop directly into a printable.

Niche audiences are easier to target and more likely to buy. Wedding planning, budgeting, and fitness are three that perform well. These buyers usually know what they want and are looking for ready-to-use tools.

Instead of designing everything from scratch, AI tools can help speed things up. Canva’s Magic Write can generate product titles, descriptions, and even extra content like section headers. Their AI layout tools suggest visual themes and help build matching pages.

You can take the content you generate in ChatGPT, paste it into Canva, and let the AI enhance the layout. It will offer template ideas, adjust the spacing, and recommend icons or fonts that match your niche. This keeps everything looking cohesive without needing any design background.

Once your product is ready, you can list it on Etsy or Payhip. Etsy works well if you want to tap into existing traffic. Payhip is better if you plan to drive your own visitors and want lower fees.

Bundling your printables into themed kits increases the perceived value. A wedding kit could include a timeline planner, guest list tracker, and vendor checklist. It’s the same amount of work if you’re using AI, but you can charge more for the complete package.

Kits also make marketing easier. People like having everything in one place, especially when they’re buying something to help them stay organized or hit a personal goal.

3. Sell AI-Generated Children’s Books

Creating children’s books with AI is a side hustle that fits around a regular job. You don’t need to be a professional writer or illustrator. ChatGPT can help with the story—try asking it to “Write a bedtime story about a bear who can’t sleep.“ You can keep what works and edit the rest to fit your tone.

For illustrations, you can use the image generator built into ChatGPT to create consistent characters across all pages. It’s especially useful if you want the same main character shown in different scenes or poses. This keeps the visuals looking polished and uniform without needing design skills.

There’s also a free option if you’re just getting started. Gemini’s 2.0 Flash in Google’s AI Studio can generate illustrations and maintain consistency between characters. It might not be as advanced as ChatGPT’s image tool, but it’s a solid choice if you want to try this out without spending anything.

Books built around clear themes tend to sell more. Stories that focus on mindfulness, bedtime routines, or learning the alphabet get steady interest from parents. These topics are easy to work with, and there’s always demand.

Once your book is ready, you can publish it on Amazon KDP or Etsy. KDP handles printing and shipping, while Etsy is great for selling digital versions or related downloads. You don’t need to carry any inventory.

Adding printable coloring pages can make your product more appealing. You can reuse illustrations from your book and convert them into black-and-white line drawings. It gives parents extra value and only takes a few minutes to create.

4. Create Custom Chatbots for Small Businesses

Building chatbots for small businesses works well as a side hustle, especially if you have a full-time job. Most of the setup can be done during evenings or weekends. Once it’s built, the ongoing work is minimal.

You can use OpenRouter to build your chatbot and offer clients flexibility in how it’s powered. It gives you access to several different language models, which helps you tailor the chatbot to each business’s needs. You can also save money by choosing more affordable models for tasks that don’t require advanced responses.

ManyChat is another option, especially for businesses that get a lot of messages through Facebook or Instagram. It works well for appointment reminders, quick replies, and capturing leads directly in chat.

Local service businesses are ideal clients. Salons, real estate agents, and law firms get routine questions daily: hours, pricing, and appointment availability. A chatbot answers those immediately, even outside of business hours.

Business owners don’t just want automation—they want more leads. A chatbot can collect names, emails, and phone numbers before passing the conversation to a human. This turns simple inquiries into real prospects.

If you’re offering chatbot services, don’t stop at setup. Add training sessions so the business knows how to use and update it. Monthly maintenance is another upsell—you can monitor performance, improve responses, and update details like seasonal hours or promotions.

It helps to pitch the chatbot as a lead generation and customer support tool. The value is clear when you focus on helping them get more clients and save time. Most small businesses won’t care about the tech behind it—they want results.

4. Create an AI Influencer Using Image Generators and Voice Tools

Influencers are making a killing on platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. You can, too—even if you’re not photogenic or don’t like being in front of the camera. AI tools make it possible to run everything behind the scenes with a virtual character that performs all the tasks.

Image generators like Midjourney and DALL·E let you create the face and style of your AI influencer. You can give them a look that matches your niche—fun, serious, stylish, or anything in between. If you want a free option, you can use open-source tools like Flux, which helps create consistent characters across different scenes and poses.

After generating your images, use RunwayML to turn them into animated videos. You can bring your character to life with motion, lip-syncing, and gestures. This gives you short video content that feels like a real influencer, ready to post.

Short-form platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are where this kind of content takes off. These apps reward consistency, and AI helps you post more often without the burnout. Even a few seconds of personality-driven content can pull in views fast.

Once your follower count grows, you can monetize through affiliate links and brand sponsorships. Brands love working with creators who have a clear identity and post regularly, even if that identity is entirely virtual.

Your AI influencer needs a voice, not just audio, but a defined personality. Keep the tone, interests, and posting style consistent so people feel like they’re following someone real. That’s what builds trust and keeps your audience growing.

5. Build and Sell Notion Templates with AI Help

Selling Notion templates is a great side hustle because once a template is made, it can keep selling without much extra effort. AI tools help cut the time it takes to build and market them.

Use Notion AI or ChatGPT to brainstorm what kind of templates to make. You can prompt it to list popular use cases for freelancers, students, or productivity systems. It can also write descriptions, walkthroughs, and onboarding guides so buyers understand how to use what they’re buying.

Freelancers want dashboards to track clients and deadlines. Students are always looking for study planners, class schedules, and exam trackers. Productivity nerds love habit trackers, goal-setting layouts, and daily planning systems. Templates that solve a specific problem tend to sell more consistently.

Once your templates are ready, you can upload them to Gumroad. It’s easy to set up and doesn’t take a cut unless you make a sale. Setting up a simple website works if you want more control over your branding and customer data.

6. Sell AI-Generated Stock Photos

Start by choosing a niche. Stock photo libraries are overloaded with generic office scenes and smiling businesspeople. What’s missing are images that reflect real diversity, modern lifestyles, or culturally specific moments. Think wheelchair users in everyday settings, religious holidays outside the mainstream, or rural professions.

Use Midjourney, Leonardo AI, or DALL·E to generate your images. Be specific with your prompts. Include details about lighting, setting, style, and subject matter. If you aim for consistency across a collection, reuse the prompt structure and tweak only the core variable.

Test a few variations and refine the outputs until you get a look that matches what you’re going for. Leonardo AI gives more control over structure and refinement, which is helpful if you’re building an image series. Midjourney is better for aesthetic variety and artistic styling.

Once your images are ready, upload them to sites like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, and EyeEm. Each platform has different submission standards, so follow the image resolution and tagging rules closely. Adobe requires you to mark content as AI-generated.

Use strong, direct keywords. The first 5–10 tags carry the most weight on most platforms. Include exact descriptions of the subject, setting, and emotion or activity. Avoid vague or generic keywords unless they truly apply.

7. Offer AI-Powered Blog Writing Services

Start by using ChatGPT to speed up content production. You can ask it to create outlines, write introductions, or even rough drafts. This makes it easier to take on multiple clients without sacrificing quality.

For clients who care about search traffic, pair ChatGPT with SurferSEO. Surfer gives you real-time data on what keywords to use, how long the article should be, and what topics to include. You plug that into ChatGPT and use the tool to structure the post around those recommendations.

Offer packages based on who you’re writing for. Startups might need blog content that introduces their product. Coaches want educational posts that build trust. Affiliate marketers usually want review-style articles or comparison posts that drive clicks.

Clients get more value when you handle the details they don’t think about—internal linking, headings, metadata, and formatting. You can use AI to suggest internal links if you can access their blog content. If not, pick one or two related topics and build those into the article structure.

On-page SEO doesn’t take long once you know what to do. Title tags, clean URLs, optimized subheadings, and keyword placement all play a role in getting the post noticed. Add that into your offer, and you’re not just writing—you’re helping their site rank better.

This service works well for clients who want traffic but don’t have time to blog regularly. AI helps you work fast, and the SEO tools make sure the content actually gets seen. That mix of speed and performance is what clients care about.

8. Sell AI-Generated Coloring Books

Create the illustrations using image generators like DALL·E, Midjourney, or Ideogram. These tools are good at producing clean, black-and-white line art for coloring pages. If you want a free option, Leonardo AI can work too, but the quality may not match the paid tools.

Pick a theme people are searching for. Mandalas, animals, fantasy creatures, affirmations with designs, and nature scenes all do well. You can target kids, adults, or even niche groups like stress-relief coloring for busy professionals.

Once you have a set of images, organize them into a whole book. You can sell physical copies through Amazon KDP or offer them as digital downloads on Etsy. KDP handles printing and shipping, while Etsy gives you more control over your pricing and file types.

Check every image before publishing. Some AI outputs can have awkward lines, extra shapes, or missing details. Use Inkscape or Illustrator to clean up the designs and make sure they’re ready to print.

List your coloring book with preview images and a clear description of what’s inside. Show a few finished pages, mention how many designs are included, and explain who it’s for. The more specific your listing is, the better it will convert.

9. Create Audio Products Using AI Voices

AI can handle both the scriptwriting and the voiceover. Use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Google’s AI Studio to write scripts for wellness content, guided exercises, affirmations, or short stories. Once the text is ready, generate the voice using ElevenLabs or Play.ht.

You’re not limited to selling audio files on Gumroad. You can offer them as digital downloads on Etsy, license them to wellness apps, or package them into content libraries for creators on platforms like Ko-fi or Payhip. Some creators even upload audio to YouTube with visuals and earn through ads.

Add value by bundling audio with transcripts or printable resources. A narrated daily affirmation pack could come with a printable calendar or journal page. You can use this as a lead magnet or upsell for a larger digital product.

Custom voiceovers are another way to monetize. Offer made-to-order voice recordings for coaches, course creators, or small business owners who need branded content. With AI, you can turn around requests quickly and offer different voice styles based on their desired tone.

10. Tying  Up Some Loose Ends

Most AI tools—whether you’re using image generators, large language models, or video creators—have a free version. Testing the free option before paying for anything is always a good idea. Some tools just won’t match how you like to work, and you won’t know that until you try them. There’s no need to commit financially upfront if the tool doesn’t feel right.

If you’re working with a tight budget, Google’s AI Studio is one of the best places to start. Google tends to make its most advanced tools available to the public early on, and they’re often free. The tradeoff is that these tools can be buggy or unpredictable since they’re still being tested. You’re essentially part of that process, but for a lot of people, it’s worth it to have access to powerful features without paying.

These side hustles don’t have to stay small. Many of them can turn into real businesses with consistent effort. Combining two or more—like pairing blog writing with AI-generated audio or selling both coloring books and printables—can help you reach different types of customers and give you more ways to grow.