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01-25-25-ai-and-liberal-arts-devansh-raniwala
Columnist Diya Choksey argues that Penn students should continue pursuing liberal arts to develop human skills in the coming age of artificial intelligence. Credit: Devansh Raniwala

Recently, my friend and I attended a networking event (in classic Penn-student fashion) and decided to run a little experiment. Every time we met a computer science or finance major, we’d take a sip of water. 15 minutes (and five bathroom breaks) later, we had our answer: We’re drowning in preprofessionalism.

It’s no secret that the liberal arts are in decline. Between 2003 and 2017, Penn saw a 37% drop in humanities degrees. History, once one of the most popular majors on campus, has experienced a staggering 46% decline since 2005. Meanwhile, waitlists for computer science classes are now longer than the line in front of Pret on a Monday morning. 

This shift isn’t just about student preferences. Universities themselves are redesigning their priorities. In 2017, the Wharton School halved its foreign language requirement, citing the growing importance of “technology, innovation, and analytics.” Some schools, like Marymount University, have gone further, cutting majors like English and philosophy entirely, claiming they no longer align with student demand. Schools like Missouri Western State University and Eastern Kentucky University are making similar moves. What once made the American university experience unique — its emphasis on broad-based learning — is being traded for hyper-specialized fields promising clearer career paths. Less “learning how to think,” more “learning how to earn.”

As a College student, I find it hard not to feel this educational undercurrent. Wharton and School of Engineering and Applied Science friends seem to have their trajectories mapped: Goldman internships, SpaceX jobs, and impressive-sounding titles nobody fully understands. Being “undecided” about your future — even at 19 years old — feels borderline criminal. Preprofessional tracks seem boring, sure, but they also seem like guaranteed paths to financial stability. Right?

Not exactly. Here’s the thing: the promise of stability? Not so stable after all.

According to the World Economic Forum, 65% of children entering primary school today will work in jobs that don’t even exist. Even for “safe” majors like computer science, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 10% decline in programming jobs over the next decade with AI tools automating major portions of software development. Anything repetitive or structured, whether it be customer service or accounting, will have “artificial intelligence” written all over it. 

So, that made me think: If even these supposedly “secure” paths are being disrupted, what won’t AI replace?

The things we can’t quantify. The things that make us human — creativity, judgment, emotional intelligence, adaptability, ethics — aka the skills that liberal arts programs have been teaching for centuries.

At some point, the liberal arts morphed into a kind of caricature — a privileged indulgence, reserved for those who could “afford to learn for the sake of learning.” But they were never meant to be luxuries. The very term “liberal” stems from liberalis, meaning “worthy of a free person.” In Ancient Greece and Rome, the liberal arts weren’t indulgent; they were essential for creating functional citizens who could debate, serve on juries, and lead civic life.

Today, as we face political unrest, social inequality, and massive technological change, don’t we still — if not more so — need people who can think critically, act ethically, and understand similar historical implications? Who else will wrestle with the ethical consequences of AI?  Who else will tackle the messy human problems like systemic racism, climate change, and gun violence, challenges that no algorithm can solve?

The future of jobs is also going to demand the very skills that liberal arts cultivate. A 2016 report from the World Economic Forum found that many formerly “pure technical” jobs will require “creativity, critical reasoning, and problem sensitivity.” AI’s reliance on predictive technology means it’s never truly creating — only synthesizing what humans have already produced. We’ll still need the next Shakespeares to write new stories, the next Spielbergs to envision new genres, and, frankly, a grounding in philosophy to remind us why we’re learning at all in a world that often feels dehumanizing.

So, to my Wharton and Engineering School peers: Don’t roll your eyes at your “fun” humanities electives or skip them because you “don’t have time.” Gen ed classes aren’t just hoops to jump through — they’re a key part of making us more than a glorified trade school. At its core, Penn isn’t just buildings and rankings; it’s the product of our collective minds. Lose the humanities, and we lose what makes us human.

And to my fellow College-ites? Don’t abandon what you love just because it doesn’t feel “practical” in an impractical future. College graduate Tory Burch built her billion-dollar brand with an art history degree, citing everything she knows about business from her working experience. And if you’re still worried about job prospects, know that according to a 2023 report from Penn Career Services, 48% of College graduates land top finance and consulting jobs — humanities degree and all. 

That being said, I still do believe higher education could do better. The liberal arts shouldn’t just exist in a vacuum. Here at Penn, as the College rethinks its foundational requirements, we have an opportunity to lead the way. Let’s facilitate interdisciplinary education, making unique, uncoordinated dual-degrees — like climate change and machine learning or philosophy and AI — easier to pursue without a long list of redundant requirements. Let’s build spaces where technology and the humanities can intersect, like Stanford University’s Humanities Lab, using computational techniques to study literature and history or develop existing, exciting projects like our very own Wharton Neuroscience Initiative.

We can’t cling to old ideas of education in a world that’s rapidly changing. But we also can’t afford to lose what makes education meaningful. 

So, study what you love. Do what fulfills you. And each step of the way, ask yourself: How is this class or project changing the way I think and see the world? Because in a future where AI can do almost “everything,” the world will belong to those who do what it can’t.

DIYA CHOKSEY is a College first year studying cognitive science from Mumbai, India. Her email is dchoksey@sas.upenn.edu.