Is AI going to take over all the side hustles?

Is there no way to get ahead anymore without some algorithm doing it cheaper and faster?

Or are there actual side hustle options that are still viable—and profitable—in 2026?

Here's the reality: Your debt won't pay itself off. That down payment won't save itself. And investments don't invest themselves. If you need extra income to hit your financial goals this year, you need to actually do something about it.

The business landscape is constantly changing, and AI is disrupting a lot of work. But there are still solid side hustle opportunities that require human skills, human presence, or human judgment that AI can't replicate. Some are brand new opportunities. Others are old faithful options that haven't gone out of style.

In today's edition of Dinner Table Discussions:

✅ Teaching small businesses to use AI (the irony is real)
✅ Real estate photography that AI can't legally replace
✅ Classic physical work that pays well (landscaping, pressure washing, etc.)
✅ The one rule before starting ANY side hustle

Bon appétit! 🧑‍🍳

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To start off, you all know our thoughts on side hustles.

So, with each of the side hustle ideas below, bear in mind that you need to figure out whether it would be worth it specifically. Also make sure it earns as much (or ideally more than) your 9-5 job.

Let’s get started!

This one might sound super technical. We promise you that it isn’t.

When we say “teaching how to use AI,” we don’t mean teaching highly technical computer engineers how to utilize AI for coding multi-million dollar software. (Also, they already know how.)

What we’re talking about is teaching people at small businesses in your town how to implement AI into their everyday processes.

These are typically businesses run by people in older generations, though they aren’t strictly limited to that demographic.

What this would look like is coming in one day and running a quick workshop on how to use ChatGPT for research, editing documents and emails, and brainstorming.

Or it could look like teaching them how to use apps like Motion for AI planning and task management.

Or even AI image generation with Google’s Nano Banana (Yes, that is its real name. No, it doesn’t mean anything).

You aren’t teaching these people rocket science. Just showing them how to use tools that you probably already use fairly often. 

What to charge: you could set your wages at as much as $100 to $350 for this kind of work. Alternatively, you could sell this in packages. For example: “For $700, I’ll come in and do a couple of 1-hour sessions with your team members and walk them through how to use AI for ___.”

AI is replacing a lot of jobs, but we don’t think high-quality real estate photography is going anywhere.

Why? Because even though using AI to create or edit real estate photos isn’t outright illegal, it still requires disclosures and can be legally dicey a lot of the time.

A lot of real estate agents probably don’t want to risk that. Thus, real estate photography lives!

Now, you do need a bit of actual skill here, and of course, a decent digital camera and editing software.

We also recommend getting a very wide lens for photographing the interior of the house.

But you do not have to be a world-class photographer to do this.

Again, the plan here is not to reach out to corporate real estate companies and agents that do hundreds of millions in sales a year.

The play here is to reach out to any local real estate businesses you see online that list… less-than-stellar photos of houses.

I did this once and made $100 in about 30 minutes of shooting and an hour of editing. I am just a photography hobbyist. And the real estate firm said they were the best photos of a house they’ve ever received.

What to charge: If I were to do it again, I wouldn’t shoot for the stars here. I might start with charging $300 a house (including editing). If I got a bunch of real estate agents saying yes to me, that would be a sign to up those prices a bit.

The classic side hustle! AI and robots definitely haven’t taken over lawn mowing yet. Well, that’s not true—there are some robot lawn mowers out there.

But they cost $600+, and some people just want to pay $80 every two weeks for someone to mow their lawn.

That’s where you come in!

This one is cool because even though there are a ton of landscaping businesses out there already, you don’t have to outdo them. You just have to price lower than them for like, 10 houses. 

That doesn’t affect their business much, and you probably couldn’t mow more than that many houses on the weekend. If you want to do more than that, congratulations—you’re most likely starting a landscaping business!

What to charge: Let’s say you set your rate at $40/hour. If the average lawn takes you 2 hours to mow (and maybe leaf blow as well), that’s $80/yard. Multiply that by 5-10 yards, and you’re making anywhere between $400-$800 for 10-20 hours of work!

Those are just three out of many, many options out there. Here are some more AI-proof side hustles we like:

You can choose from any side hustle on this list or ditch them all and find your own way. It’s totally up to you! We just hope this edition of Dinner Table Discussions helps get the brainstorming juices flowing if you’re looking for a way to potentially increase your income this year.

Cheers to getting 1% better each week! 🥂

We’d love to hear about them—and your story could help someone else start their own.
Just hit reply and share.

Thanks for reading,
—Your friends @ Future Funders 🍽️

P.S. Forward this to a friend who’s looking for a new side gig 😁