I've never done contractor or $/hr work and I have no idea how these things work in reality, but: If a task takes you five hours to do without AI and 1 hour wi

I've never done contractor or $/hr work and I have no idea how these things work in reality, but: If a task takes you five hours to do without AI and 1 hour with AI charged at 100$, in the without-AI case you're making 500$, in the with-AI case you're making 100$ - price_of_AI, right? Otherwise your example assumes you're charging someone 5 hours of work when in reality it took you 1 hour and then you spent an additional 4 hours watching TV. In any case this thinking exercise made me realize that maybe it's more about staying competitive against other peers than about "AI paying for itself". If you're really charging for hours of work, then it is really a competitive advantage against people not using AI. Assuming an AI-enhanced contractor can do the same amount of work than a non-AI-enhanced contractor in fewer hours, then I'd assume they would get more contracts, because the overall project is cheaper for whoever is hiring them. Does that really lead to you making more money, though? No idea honestly. Probably not? I just can't see how using AI "pays for itself". At best you're making now less money than before, because you're required to pay for the AI subscription if you want to stay competitive.