This article was adapted from an article originally written by Mallory Mejias published on SideCar Global and then edited with help from ChatGPT.
In 1865, economist William Stanley Jevons made a counterintuitive observation during the Industrial Revolution: as coal-powered engines became more efficient, coal consumption increased rather than decreased. This became known as Jevons Paradox—when a resource becomes more efficient and accessible, demand for it often rises rather than falls.
We've seen this pattern play out repeatedly. When LED lighting became more energy-efficient, cities installed more lights. When fuel efficiency improved, people drove farther. When computing power became cheaper, we embedded it in everything from refrigerators to wristwatches.
Now, with AI advancements accelerating, Jevons Paradox is playing out once again—this time in the realm of intelligence. As AI models become exponentially more powerful and affordable, they are rapidly democratizing access to knowledge, automation, and creative tools. This shift raises a provocative question: If intelligence moves from scarcity to abundance, what does that mean for the arts and for cultural institutions?
How AI Could Reshape Cultural Organizations
For centuries, cultural organizations have played a vital role as presenters of artistic work, incubators of talent, and centers of community engagement. But what happens when AI reduces the cost and difficulty of producing art? What happens when artists start using AI technology far more than they already do today? What happens to demand for live performances?
A Thought Experiment for the Arts
If Jevons Paradox holds true for cultural organizations, AI’s efficiency and digital art won’t make the arts obsolete—it will increase demand.
1. The Future of Artistic Creation
Rather than replacing artists, AI is likely to expand creative techniques. If AI can compose music, generate visual art, or write scripts for plays, the most innovative artists won’t use these tools to replace themselves—they will use them to create something entirely new.
Audiences will be curious about this intersection of technology and human creativity. The prevalence of AI-generated art will separate the mundane from the unexpected, heightening demand for the authentic, the human, and the imperfect. People will still be able to tell the difference.
2. A New Model for Cultural Education
Today, AI (and YouTube, for that matter) can teach anyone the basics of music theory, playwriting, or an instrument. Does this reduce the need for conservatories and arts education?
Just as calculators shifted math education from rote memorization to problem-solving, AI might accelerate a shift toward mastery of creative expression rather than technical proficiency—something that can only be achieved with real-time human guidance.
Institutions should reposition themselves as places where AI-enhanced learning meets human mentorship, collaboration, and critique.
3. Rethinking Audience Engagement & Access
If AI-driven marketing can personalize outreach, automate ticketing, and optimize programming decisions, cultural institutions could become more audience-centric than ever before. AI will create better ways for audiences to discover, explore, and decide what they want to see or experience.
AI-powered tools, if used properly, will allow cultural organizations to reach new, highly specific audiences—offering personalized content recommendations that could deepen engagement.
The Arts in an AI-Enhanced World
As AI drives efficiency, cultural organizations face a choice: compete with AI’s ability to replicate artistic forms, or double down on the human elements that make the arts irreplaceable.
And if Jevons Paradox holds, increased access to AI-generated culture won’t reduce demand for the arts—it will transform it, creating entirely new forms of artistic expression.
As AI reshapes nearly all industries, artists and cultural organizations face an important choice: resist it - or explore how technology can complement or enhance what they are doing. The future of the arts will likely be defined not by competition with AI, but by how artists and institutions choose to engage with it.
Kommentare