For years, I had a recurring fear that many parents can relate to: I kept worrying about my kids’ college majors.
One went off to study music production. The other chose creative writing.
My wife and I couldn’t have been prouder. They both followed their passions, graduated from great schools, and gained invaluable knowledge along the way. But as any parent watching tuition checks clear for two arts degrees might understand, I’d occasionally catch myself wondering: Should we have pushed them toward something a bit more practical? Computer science, engineering, accounting — something with a clear career ladder and a starting salary that makes the bill sting a little less?
Then artificial intelligence showed up and blew everything wide open.
Now,
I’m starting to think it’s the "safe" majors that might actually be in trouble.
AI has gotten shockingly good at the exact tasks we assumed required a pricey degree and years of expertise. It can write code, crunch spreadsheets, parse legal documents, draft marketing plans and tackle just about any routine office task.
And yes, it can even (technically speaking) write short stories, compose music, and generate artwork now.
Here’s the catch: there’s a massive difference between churning out content and creating something people actually care about.
And I’m betting that exact difference is about to become worth a whole lot more.
For most of human history, creating art was hard work. Writing a book took years. Cutting an album meant booking studio time, hiring musicians, and spending serious cash. Filming a movie required an entire crew.
AI changes all those rules. Soon, generating content will cost practically nothing. And when supply becomes infinite, basic economics says its market value collapses.
Except art doesn't follow the usual rules of supply and demand.
When cameras were invented, people didn't stop painting—they started valuing artistic perspective over pure visual reproduction. When recorded music blew up, live concerts didn't vanish—they became priceless social experiences. Cheap factory furniture didn't kill off custom woodworking, either. If anything, automated abundance only makes true human craftsmanship stand out even more.
It all comes down to authenticity, intention, and real human experience.
Imagine walking into a local restaurant and catching a live jazz trio in the corner. Maybe the drummer drops a beat. Maybe the sax player improvises a wild solo. Maybe the whole song feels like it's about to fall apart before they pull it back together seamlessly.
Those human imperfections are precisely what make the night memorable.
Sure, an AI can generate a mathematically perfect jazz track in seconds. But nobody wants to sit at a table, sip a bourbon, and stare at a jukebox on autoplay.
At least I don’t.
The exact same thing is going to happen with writing.
AI will flood us with smooth, polished text. Corporate emails will get cleaner, instruction manuals will be less painful, and maybe software terms of service will finally sound like English.
But when anyone can pump out flawless sentences in two seconds, flawless sentences stop being impressive.
That is when a writer’s distinct voice becomes truly valuable.
Knowing an actual person sat down, stared at a blank screen, drank way too much coffee, and wrestled with what they really believed before committing it to the page—the resulting quirks and imperfections are what readers appreciate.
There’s a deep human element to all of this. We're wired to connect. We love stories mainly because we care about the person telling them.
A handmade pottery mug doesn't keep coffee hot any better than a cheap factory mug. But people gladly pay extra for it because a real person made it.
AI might ironically end up pushing a huge chunk of our economy in that exact direction.
The most "future-proof" careers won’t belong to people grinding away at tasks algorithms will soon master. They’ll belong to those delivering the raw, personal experiences humans inherently crave from each other.
We're talking about performing, teaching, persuading, leading, entertaining, caring, storytelling, and building real, authentic experiences.
Which brings me back to those tuition bills.
After years of wondering whether music production and creative writing were practical choices, I'm seeing things in a whole new light.
In a world overflowing with artificial intelligence, genuine human intelligence and creativity are going to command a premium.
Along with real artistry.
And real people.
If that's true, those college checks might turn out to be pretty smart investments after all.
JJ Rosen is the founder of Atiba, a custom software development firm, and Nashville IT support company. Visit Atiba.com for more info.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why AI changed how I think about my kids' arts degrees
