According to a new analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, economist Joseph Politano has determined that more than 200,000 jobs have been lost across creative industries in the past four years. Of those losses, 50,000 occurred in just this last year alone. This includes careers in film, TV, publishing and graphic design. The hardest hit creative sector has been movie and sound recording with more than 100,000 losses in the past four years.
Historical job losses similar in scale and intensity can be seen in economic recessions that occurred in the U.S. in 2001 and 2008. Although media firms have been pointedly vague about personal AI use due to public opinion and legalities, there is an irrefutable trend of job loss that coincides with the rise of technology such as ChatGPT. On the other hand, jobs that are tied to in-person experiences have been on the rise and continue to grow — such as in museums and the performing arts.