AI-Proof Your Career In The Arts
Alexa Uy, Content Writer Intern
The hard sciences have long been the favoured route in the Singapore educational system, with netizens questioning whether there was even a point in an art career when a 19 year-old photographer aced the subject in the GCE ‘A’ levels. A 2021 survey confirmed this, with 92% of Singaporeans believing that the world needs more people pursuing STEM careers.
To add salt to the wound, according to the 2022 Graduate Employment Survey, arts, humanities and social sciences graduates consistently earn the lowest starting pay!
Well, at least we would have the final laugh in the race against Artificial Intelligence (AI), or so we thought. It has been long thought that the repeatable, programmable aspects of labour were at the highest risk of being replaced by robots. But not so, the innate creativity that is the domain of the arts!
Enter ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that can synthesise large amounts of data from the internet into writing of decent quality within seconds. Generative AI is automating even writing and design work, leaving arts graduates thinking “what does this mean for the arts careers of tomorrow? Is pursuing a job in this field even viable?”
Notes from a chatbot workshop I attended (which was interesting, but not my cup of tea…)
For arts students like me, it’s enough to cause an existential crisis. I spent months trying to persuade myself to go for an alternative career path that would be more promising; I even went for a workshop to try my hand at making a chatbot! Still, I could not deny that the arts are what call out to me. So, I resigned myself to the reality that choosing anything else would have made my life miserable.
If neither money nor better prospects could lure me away from the path of the arts, then how might I AI-proof my future career in the arts?
Meeting Uncertainty With Complementary Strengths
One way to respond to the advent of technology and AI is to become well-versed in these skills and capitalise on these opportunities, if you were so inclined. But for people like me, whose strengths and talents are very much in the field of the arts, what can we do?
I sought out ways that I could pick up skills that would complement AI. So I decided to ask Notion AI to predict what skills it can’t replace, and the following is what it produced:
These include creative skills such as art, music, and writing, which require human intuition and imagination. Other skills that are difficult to automate include interpersonal skills such as empathy, communication, and leadership, which are essential for many jobs in fields such as healthcare, education, and management. Overall, (AI) is unlikely to replace the full range of skills and abilities that humans possess.
Instead of fearing or dreading technological advances, try focusing on the complementary strengths that you do have. Taking a page from Bold’s methodology, activating your strengths can lead you to find new and creative ways to adapt and align with the new reality. Why not take up more projects to hone these skills and let these abilities shine? Aside from being valuable skills for your career, they are also going to help you in your personal life!
5 Ways to AI-Proof Your Career
To AI-proof your arts career, here are 5 things you could do:
1. Get acquainted with the world of technology, even if you are not going to be an expert
Don’t get left behind while the rest of the world advances. Try taking beginner-level online courses for software that benefits your field, or support our public libraries by attending NLB’s MakeIT workshops, like the chatbot workshop I joined. It’s never too late to start learning!
2. Leverage AI to help you do your work better
A tip from my friend, Jeremy, an Applied Drama and Psychology student, is to use ChatGPT for inspiration, even for tasks like scriptwriting. He says, ‘I don’t lift its work wholesale, but I can refine it and then write a whole script from it.’
I tried asking ChatGPT for a scriptwriting prompt and it looks promising! (Screenshot: chat.openai.com)
There are creative applications for AI in the field of visual art too. For example, artist Berny Tan used algorithms developed at SUTD to create machine-knitted lanterns that depict memories of Chinese Garden, harkening back to the good times before the gardens were closed for redevelopment.
Instead of shying away from AI, meet it head-on and generate new intersections between your creative talents and what technology can bring!
Challenge yourself to go beyond your comfort zone and take a dip into the many possibilities the world of technology can offer. Even if you do not plan on becoming an expert, you can still get acquainted with the basics.
3. Be a proactive problem-solver; ask good questions
What better way to find relevance than to apply our strengths to solving real-world problems? AI can perhaps scour through multiple sources and huge amounts of data to find an answer, better and faster than any human can. But we need to have the skill of asking the right question.
What is a new problem that we can apply ourselves and technology to solving? What is a question worth asking? If you pursue what you care about, you might just find a problem you can uniquely contribute to solving.
4. Get started on networking
Stay updated on the latest developments in your field, technological or otherwise. Did you know that a recent LinkedIn study shows that as much as 85% of jobs are filled via networking? Start early, start practising now. It is much better to approach networking from the point of view of curiosity and a quest to learn more, rather than doing it out of desperation, when you really need a job!
5. Focus on what makes you unique
As with any other problem, we should focus our attention on what we can control. A strengths coach once told me, it is better to invest in our strengths and build them up, rather than try and compensate for our areas of weakness. Knowing your unique strengths and sharpening them, can become a powerful calling card when it comes to advancing in your career. Love the arts? Polish your strengths in your chosen field, till you become one of the best, for there is always room for the best.
Stay Grounded, Stretch Beyond
I believe in accepting and leveraging on my area of strengths and passions, rather than trying to twist them to fit into the mould of the world. At the same time, it is important to be bold enough to go outside of my comfort zone, so as to create relevance and opportunities in this world where technology is constantly advancing. With the right mindset, I believe anyone can AI-proof their career in the arts!
Trying to figure out where your passions and strengths lie? How about discovering what grounds you in Bold’s Design Your Life workshop? We are canvassing interest from those who might be keen; if that is you, please fill in the form here! The form closes on 15 May 2023.