When India Gatts applied for an internship at the Trumbull County Historical Society (TCHS) as a junior history and English double major, she just thought it would be good work experience. She then turned it into a two-year project on the Old Mahoning Ave. “Pioneer” Cemetery of cataloging, digitizing, mapping, and creating maps and indexes.
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What does it mean to be a liberal arts student in the AI boom? While AI is changing a lot of industries and lives, it isn’t killing liberal arts careers like many people think; it’s creating a new career opportunity.
What does it mean to be a liberal arts student in the AI boom? While AI is changing a lot of industries and lives, it isn’t killing liberal arts careers like many people think; it’s creating a new career opportunity.
Business Insider details the “Revenge of the English majors” and the New York Times details the “Revenge of the Philosophy major” as heads of AI companies have started stating they’re looking specifically for humanities degree holders. While a philosopher may not agree with the morality of revenge, it seems the cultural narrative compels them toward it. Truthfully, both English and philosophy majors have always been employable as they are some of the leading majors to go to law school, but they are now more employable during the AI boom. People are, rightfully so, wondering about the future of the job market as automation continues to advance, but according to the founders of AI, the humanities are here to stay.
Research Technology Management stated, “the jobs that will remain will be those that depend on inimitably human skills: creativity, empathy, [and] intellectual flexibility.”
Similarly, the cofounder of Anthropic and English-degree-holder, Daniela Amodei, emphasized that those hired by the company are sought out due to their communication skills, creativity, and high emotional intelligence. “I actually think studying the humanities is going to be more important than ever…A lot of these models are actually very good at STEM. But I think this idea that there are things that makes us uniquely human — understanding ourselves, understanding history, understanding what makes us tick — I think that will always be really really important. And I think the ability to have critical thinking skills and learn how to interact with other people will be more important in the future, rather than less.”
There is also a common misconception that the humanities are rejecting or refusing to acknowledge the age of AI. At YSU, the Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and Education sees the shifting culture, and works to evolve alongside it. In courses such as Writing with Data in the Department of English and World Languages or Data Ethics under the Philosophy Program, AI is coming up more and more.
For courses that focus more on creative writing, professors are providing more complex prompts that force students to find a distinct and strong voice outside of the standardized AI tonalities.
In an evolving economy and job market, YSU continues to adapt its courses and facilities to set its students up for success following graduation. Degrees in the humanities emphasize skills found on every job application such as critical thinking, teamwork, communication, and more.
