The intersecting trends of talent scarcity and the rise of AI means that traditional hiring metrics no longer work. The smartest companies are looking past the resume for employees who bring an unusual background to their job.

In 1993 Xerox PARC, the Silicon Valley research powerhouse, launched an artist-in-residence program to encourage a different kind of innovation. As we look to an AI-mediated future, the lessons from that experiment in transdisciplinary creativity are more important than ever.

Hiring is risky. But in an era of exponentially rapid change, the real danger is playing it safe. Those with a background in the arts represent a valuable and untapped source of talent.

Movies and television usually depict embodied AI as malevolent robots. Terror sells. But without access to the physical world and a tactile curiosity, AI will never be fully creative.

Artistry and craft are the foundation of MycoWorks, a biomaterials company partnering with some of today’s leading fashion brands. According to its artist-founders, Phil Ross and Sophia Wang, these core values lend them a competitive edge in a high-tech industry.

For the creative professions, the rise of generative A.I. feels like an existential threat. But a familiar technology, invented 184 years ago, can show us how to adapt and thrive in a new reality.

On November 8, California voters passed Proposition 28, an act that guarantees 1% of the K-12 budget go towards arts and music education. With almost no opposition, the success of this effort shows that the public is ahead of its leaders when it comes to valuing the arts.

The next generation of virtual worlds must focus on our shared humanity. That’s why EY’s Cognitive Human Enterprise and the New Museum’s NEW INC are bringing together artists and engineers to imagine a different kind of metaverse.