According to an analysis released by Statistics Canada early in December, businesses that expect their number of vacancies to increase make up 4.6 per cent of all businesses in the country and are led by those that fit into health care and social assistance sectors at 8.3 per cent.
This, for someone who graduated with an honours Bachelor of Arts degree, is not exactly encouraging news. Working in the arts means that you must rely frequently on freelance work, which is often inconsistent and does not come with a cushy healthcare insurance package. As a writer, something that I’ve been seeing far too often when it comes to creative job postings is that many companies are looking for those with arts degrees to train AI (artificial intelligence) bots.
Now, why would I train an AI to do my job? Do I want to be replaced in a field I enjoy working in?
In an era where AI seems to be taking over many creative positions, I am hyper aware that my future career prospects don’t look especially bright. However, there is one saving grace — I don’t believe that AI will ever be able to mimic the way human emotion comes across in human-made art.
As a fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I cannot imagine an AI system being able to write such a heartfelt and meaningful story. While the elements of the story would be there, it would still lack the heart and emotion that Austen poured into her story.
The same goes for countless other works of classic and modem literature — as products of their time, it would be near impossible for an AI system to effectively replicate them.
So, whenever I see these job postings, I find myself wondering who feels as if they must take these roles — and wishing that they did not have to.
Coming out of university with an arts degree, getting a job for a company that wishes for you to train AI may seem like a good first position. However, in no time, you could be replaced by the very AI bot you trained. So, is there a solution?
I certainly don’t have all the answers, but as we move into the first month of 2025, I believe that it is more important than ever that we realize how AI can be used in ways that are productive rather than taking away from those in creative fields.
When talking with friends and family about the use of AI, I have heard it argued that AI technology can be used to help those in many fields with processing large amounts of data in a quick and efficient way.
This is a way, in my mind, that AI can be used for good. Of course, there will need to be those who know how to insert the data correctly into the AI system for processing – but AI technology can certainly do the extensive organizing and perhaps advanced mathematical procedures that may be needed.
In this way, AI can be used in a sustainable and useful way. I believe that as the use of AI becomes even more widespread than it already is, we will see more elaborate laws that help to dictate its use in workplaces and in personal settings.
As we go into 2025, I know I will be keeping an eye on AI law and its continued use in society. Maybe by the end of this year, we will have an understanding of how it can be used in a sustainable way.
Graphic by Jamie Mere.
