Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. – Artificial intelligence has become a hot topic in many discussions about the world.
Across the globe, people have started to rely on AI to teach certain subjects or use them to create funny social media graphics.
Despite this rise, AI has remained an extremely problematic piece of technology, bringing many moral and ethical questions.
The rise of AI art is one example. It highlights how the arts and humanities are systematically undervalued.
Ever since the space race, governments have emphasized STEM (science, math, and engineering) subjects.
In 2019, BBC News discovered that when the UK education department prioritized them over art and humanities classes, it led to a significant decrease in enrollment in humanities and art classes.
The underfunding of the arts and humanities is not just present in the U.K.
Across Democratic and Republican states, humanities programs in colleges are continually ignored and underfunded in comparison to STEM programs.
Moreover, society shames those going into a field in the arts and humanities, dismissing those jobs as worthless.
Despite significant devaluing, humanities and the arts are highly present in society.
Humanities encompasses the fields of history, literature, languages, linguistics, philosophy, cultural studies and anthropology – subjects that affect our ability to learn from the past and look toward the future.
The arts fill the same role – commenting on a moment in society, creating pop culture and supporting political movements.
What can be done if all of this creativity disappears due to AI-written shows starring the same AI-replicated actors?
What will happen to society if people are only doing technology-related jobs in the world?
The future ahead of us will be full of moral problems questioning our humanity.
Let’s remember that there is still a way to explore our humanity before it’s too late.
Dana Kim is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
