It’s long been claimed by politicians and stern-faced educators that the liberal arts are a waste of time. With little to no job prospects offered to those brave enough to study them (myself included), there’s now a new threat looming over us artists.
As AI becomes a core part of education, many argue that arts degrees are in more danger than ever before. ChatGPT’s ability to generate essays and written work in seconds is astonishing. With barely any input, the interface can produce page after page of content. It’s often subpar, but it’s still remarkable, and it’s improving by the day.
In fact, AI has become so embedded in modern culture that politicians have openly admitted to using it for second opinions on political decisions. It was reported last year that Sweden’s head of state used ChatGPT on speeches he delivered in parliament. I hope that scares you as much as it scares me.
At the same time, concerns around Gen Z’s supposed lack of critical thinking have led some to declare the arts to be in decline. Across the UK, funding cuts have hit creative subjects hard.
The technological era we live in doesn’t just threaten the arts institutionally—it challenges the value of artistic skills themselves. In a world where essays, advice, and analysis can be generated instantly, it’s fair to ask: Why wouldn’t students use it? Honestly, I don’t blame university students for turning to these tools.
But the arts still matter. In my opinion, they matter now more than ever. So let’s explain why—and hopefully keep me employed in the process.
Arts degrees are less valued
In a recent interview, Reform member Suella Braverman criticized those going to university to do “dud degrees.” Whilst not specifically mentioning the arts, the implication was there.
Although the comment came from Reform, the attitude itself is hardly unique. For years, politicians across the spectrum have treated the arts as lesser subjects—hobbies disguised as education rather than valuable disciplines in their own right.
That mindset also aligns rather conveniently with the government’s ongoing lack of funding for the arts. When creative subjects are constantly framed as impractical or unserious, it becomes much easier to justify cutting support for them altogether.
The current UK government lacks an arts minister (ironically, the position was amalgamated with the tech minister). Similarly, there are proposals from Labor that would allow AI companies to train their models using copyrighted material without permission from the original creators—scary stuff.
And so the cycle continues: the arts are undervalued, underfunded, and then criticized for struggling. Funny how that works.
Humanities aren’t the only degrees in trouble
I felt the brunt of this mindset shift while studying English at university. I could only endure so many jokes about “unemployment” and raised eyebrows whenever someone asked what I planned to do with the degree. Under it all was a lingering sense that the subject itself was somehow less valuable, with the prospects and opportunities feeling decidedly slim.
I watched a number of my more mathematically inclined friends go on to earn degrees in engineering, physics, and myriad other disciplines. It often felt as though I was somehow behind them. Whether it was an imagined pressure or the endless family members asking if I planned to become a teacher after completing my English degree, the path ahead appeared limited.
Although I appreciated the lack of exams, I still found university challenging. There’s a strange narrative that studying the liberal arts is somehow the easier route. More people than ever before are attending university, so the rise of a homogenized perspective perhaps makes sense. Why am I studying a “dud” degree anyway? For me, it came from a love for subjective answers. I could never fully connect with science and its rigid certainties.
Yet STEM degrees that once offered clear routes to a job are failing too. Maybe it’s the amount of students attending, or the AI-sized elephant in the room, but the facts remain that the range of opportunities open to STEM graduates is shrinking.
“It’s not just us!” I found myself crying in ambivalent excitement. AI seems to have affected all degrees, though some more than others.
The danger of AI
Labeled by some as the “death of critical thinking,” AI has introduced a strange contradiction into education. We have more access to information than any generation before us, yet many students are engaging with knowledge less deeply than ever. Why spend hours analyzing a text or constructing an argument when an AI can produce something convincing in under thirty seconds?
Efficiency is one of the mains reason why people—particularly students—use AI. It is hardly inconceivable that intelligent students would turn to these tools, especially within universities. Like much of the tired criticism directed at Gen Z, discussions around AI often imply that young people are simply becoming lazier or less intelligent. The reality is far more complicated than that.
Numerous capable and academically strong students use AI, typically to manage overwhelming workloads, financial pressure, or constant expectations of productivity. My ears go red admitting it, but I’ve used it at certain points too.
The danger is not simply that students may cheat. The real concern is what happens when people stop wrestling with ideas altogether. Arts and humanities subjects are built around interpretation, ambiguity, and critical thought. Often, there is no singular “correct” answer (thank goodness). The value comes from the process of questioning and developing unique perspectives and answers.
AI shortcuts that process. It can imitate analysis without truly understanding the meaning. AI programs like ChatGPT are also notoriously misinformed. By processing and analyzing massive data sets, ChatGPT compiles answers from information across the internet. The logic it constructs is based on learned patterns rather than verified reasoning.
Why are the humanities important? BECAUSE of AI
Far from making the humanities obsolete, AI may be the very reason they matter more than ever. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly capable of producing essays, summaries, and even creative work in seconds, the question is no longer whether information can be generated—but whether it can be understood, evaluated, and trusted.
AI can replicate structure and mimic intelligence, but it cannot genuinely interpret meaning, ethics, or lived human experience. It does not understand culture; it recognizes patterns within it. That distinction matters. In a world where content can be produced instantly and at scale, the ability to critically assess that content becomes essential.
This is where the humanities prove vital. Subjects like English, history, philosophy, and the arts train people to question assumptions, interpret ambiguity, and engage with ideas. These are not obsolete skills in the age of AI—they are exactly the skills needed to navigate it.
The more automated information there is, the more valuable careful interpretation becomes. And interpretation, at its core, is a human task.
Why the slander makes sense
It’s easy to dismiss criticism of arts and humanities degrees because the same recycled “useless degree” rhetoric gets aimed at these subjects every few years. But the fact that it keeps returning is worth paying attention to—even if you disagree with it.
Part of the argument comes from a broader cultural shift in how value is measured. Success is increasingly framed in economic terms: salary, job titles, and “clear” career pathways. I felt the invisible pressure from the world around me. That’s where the “waste of time” narrative gains traction—not necessarily because it’s fair, but because it fits a system that prioritizes measurable outcomes.
At the same time, this criticism reflects something deeper about how education itself is being understood. If the purpose of a degree is seen purely as employability, then anything that develops interpretation, critical thinking, or cultural understanding can start to look secondary. But that definition is narrow and increasingly out of step with a world shaped by AI, misinformation, and rapidly changing industries.
So while the slander toward arts degrees does make sense within a certain economic logic, it has clear limitations. It assumes that the only valuable education is the one that leads directly to a job, rather than one that equips people to think critically about the systems they enter—including the ones that decide what counts as “useful” in the first place.
The silver lining
For all the uncertainty surrounding arts and humanities degrees, they supply a quiet resilience. Even as they are being questioned, underfunded, and increasingly measured against economic outcomes, they persist, and for good reason!
If AI is changing education, it is not just by replacing certain tasks, but by reshaping what we think knowledge is for. When machines can generate information instantly, knowing how to think, rather than just what to produce, is vital.
This is where the humanities hold their ground. They do not promise straightforward answers or guaranteed career paths; instead, they foster the ability to sit with ambiguity without rushing to a simplified conclusion.
Maybe this will grant the liberal artists of the world some solace. Or maybe I’m just trying to justify my degree…but hopefully I’m right!
