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News.com.au
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
UNSW under fire over ‘generative AI' art course offering
One of Australia's most prestigious universities has come under fire for offering a new subject which requires students to use generative AI to create art. The class, called DART2252 – Generative AI for Artists, is an elective available to those studying under the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture. It advertises coursework that focuses on producing creative works that 'employ generative AI', with students encouraged to 'explore, interrogate, and integrate current innovations in generative AI'. UNSW Fine Arts and Secondary Education student, Robin Chessell, said it was hard not to find the course insulting, 'especially as an art student'. 'AI can feel very threatening as companies pursue profits over genuine art and human connection. So it does feel a little bit like a betrayal,' the 22-year-old said. 'I've cared a lot about ethical issues with technology for a long time. 'I was very critical of the NFT phase that we went through in 2020, and then as AI has sort of come more into the mainstream, I've been seeing the issues, the negative impacts of it, come out more and more as well.' Ms Chessell said, the truth is, that where or not UNSW run this course, AI is going to make its way into the art landscape. However, she believes that running this course 'sends a message' to art students that hard work, art and behaving ethically towards other people and to the environment 'is not valued', 'And it would send a message that our intellectual property and our creations and ideas as artists are not valued,' the student added. Ms Chessell said the first she heard of the subject being run was via a group chat, and believes the university has not carried out enough consultation with students about the implementation of AI. 'I think from all of the people that I've talked to here on art campus as well as online, I haven't seen a single person that says, 'yes, we need this course',' she said. 'Everyone is pretty universally is against it. 'We were just very frustrated, even felt a sense of betrayal from the university, that they would run this subject and that's what sort of prompted me to do something about it.' A petition started by Ms Chessell has already garnered almost 500 signatures. It calls for the removal of the subject, citing concerns regarding the negative impacts of generative AI such as plagiarism, electricity and water use, climate impacts and ethics surrounding misusage. As well as the cancellation of the class, the petition demands UNSW to commit to not teach or require the use of generative AI in any other classes, now or in future – and when it is mentioned, the disadvantages are outlined by staff. Many signatories expressed their disappointment with the 'harmful' decision to mix AI and human creativity – something that has already resulted in lawsuits around the globe. 'The whole point of applying to, enrolling in, and paying for art school is so YOU can make the art,' one wrote. 'Generative AI in its current state only provides more issues than it does provide a helpful medium for artistic interpretation,' another said. 'It steals from others and uses resources that ultimately plummet us towards more climate change.' 'AI should never be a replacement for creativity,' a third commented. A fourth said: 'Wow, this is messed up.' 'Even if they'd (sic) eliminate this unit later, UNSW turned out to be … a uni that does not care about a sustainable future at all. 'Extremely disappointed and UNSW definitely does not deserve that high ranking in Australia and in the world.' A spokesperson for UNSW told the course was consistent with the university's guidelines on the ethical and 'thoughtful' integration of AI. They did not specify as to how they would minimise any negative impacts created by AI. 'DART2252 Generative AI for Artists is an elective course at UNSW Sydney that critically explores the creative and ethical questions raised by AI, rather than simply promoting or celebrating its use,' the spokesperson said. 'It provides students with the tools to understand and question the role of generative AI in the arts, and is part of a broader effort to ensure students are well-equipped to navigate an increasingly AI-integrated world.' The spokesperson said the course was originally introduced in 2021 under the name Emerging Media Technologies Studio, before being renamed Generative AI for Artists in 2024. It was first taught under its new name in 2025. 'The updated course was approved through UNSW's standard academic governance processes,' the spokesperson said. 'As with all UNSW operations, the course (with its enrolment of fewer than 20 students) aligns with the University's Environmental Sustainability Plan. 'UNSW is a certified carbon-neutral organisation, and the University remains committed to minimising its environmental footprint across all activities.'
The Guardian
12-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Proposed Macquarie University restructure will ‘hollow out' humanities, academics say
Academics have accused Macquarie University of 'hollowing out' the humanities after the institution announced a restructure that would halve some arts faculties and drastically reduce course offerings for some degrees. Under the proposed changes, seen by Guardian Australia, 42 full-time equivalent academic roles in the Faculty of Arts and 33 in the Faculty of Science and Engineering would be cut, making about $15m in net savings. Curriculum changes would be made in 2026 and 2027, with mergers and reductions largely attributed to low enrolment figures. The proposal, released to staff on 3 June, said the prospect of international student caps and 'uncertainty' in domestic student growth meant Australian universities could no longer rely on boosting enrolments to ensure financial sustainability. 'The objective of the changes … is to resize the workforce in areas where current staff profile and capacity is not aligned to student demand.' Staff have less than a month to provide feedback about the cuts. A final decision is expected to be made in early July. A spokesperson for Macquarie said the proposed curriculum changes were designed to ensure education remained 'transformative' for students. 'The needs of employers and students are evolving and universities, including Macquarie, need to adapt to modern demands,' they said. 'While we are preserving traditional humanities subjects such as history, philosophy, and English literature, we are at the same time offering majors and courses that are focused on employability and meeting areas of student interest and demand.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email President of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and academic at Macquarie, Dr Alison Barnes, said she had been receiving 'constant calls' from academics worried about changes at their institutions. More than a dozen universities are undergoing restructuring, including ANU, UTS, Western Sydney University and the University of Wollongong. The NTEU estimated that more than 1,000 roles were on the line, less than five years after more than 17,000 job cuts during the pandemic – or 13% of the workforce. 'Another round of job cuts is extremely damaging to people's wellbeing, they're living with systemic uncertainty,' Barnes said. 'It's also having a corrosive impact on students. They need to be able to study things that they are inherently interested in.' At Macquarie, ancient history and archaeology, creative arts, politics and international relations and the school of sociology would all lose up to, or more than, half of their FTE staff, while media and communications – which jointly operates the 2SER radio station with the University of Technology, Sydney – would be reduced by about one quarter under the proposed changes. Majors would also be discontinued in a string of study areas including politics, gender studies and performing arts, while a number of bachelor degrees would be abolished, including music, ancient history and archeology – which would be incorporated into a new bachelor of history. The number of media majors would also be reduced from six to three. Ten new research positions would be created in science and engineering, and two in education. Barnes said it 'shocked' her that the humanities was being particularly targeted. 'It's this hollowing out of our institutions. You've got people who've worked their entire lives in these disciplines, and then that knowledge is lost, which is why I think these decisions are so incredibly damaging and shortsighted. 'It's a travesty, and it's heartbreaking.' Acting president of the Australian Historical Association (AHA), Prof Kate Fullagar, said the cuts were part of the 'ongoing devaluation' of humanities at Macquarie and most Australian universities. 'What we're most concerned about is the reduction in unit offerings and staff – ancient history has been massively depleted, and that sector was clearly the best in the country,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'It took Macquarie 40 or 50 years to build up … it's the university's own investment that they're undermining, and it just seems like recklessness. 'Inevitably, what will happen is that with less offerings and less choices for the students, numbers go down, and then you get into this horrible cycle where they cut you further.' In an email sent to Macquarie students on 3 June, the deputy vice-chancellor (academic), Prof Rorden Wilkinson, said students may notice a 'more focused structure' to their course, major or units from 2026. 'The units you choose from will be based on the best education offerings in each faculty,' he wrote. 'Your study choices will be clearer. The curriculum you study will be more purposeful. Your pathway to graduation will be easier.' Associate professor in the department of history and archaeology at Macquarie, Paul McKechnie, who has worked at the university for almost 20 years, said it would be challenging to adequately cover teaching with 'so few staff'. McKechnie said he was 'skeptical' about Macquarie's claims that the cuts were being made because of falling student numbers. A change paper seen by Guardian Australia, which was published by the university and distributed to staff, last year, showed the arts generated $133m in annual profit but cost $48.6m to run. The vice-chancellor of Macquarie, Prof Bruce Dowton, said universities in Western democracies were facing a 'range of external pressures' and Australia was no exception. Macquarie has run a deficit for five of the past six years, including a $4m loss in 2024. It cut its workforce in 2020 and 2021 around the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. 'We understand that changes of this nature can be unsettling, and we do not take them lightly,' Dowton said. 'Our community can be assured that we are proposing these changes because they are needed.' NTEU branch president for Macquarie, and senior lecturer in quantitative sociology, Nicholas Harrigan, said the cuts were a 'disgrace'. 'That is simply stealing from students,' he said. The spokesperson said the proposed changes were the result of 'careful planning and reflection'. They said teaching overall was 'generally financially sustainable' but that wasn't 'uniformly true'. 'Courses and units with low enrolments are generally more likely to be loss-making after all costs are fully allocated,' they said. 'Strategic realignment allows us to focus on areas of sustainable strength, invest in emerging disciplines, and make choices to safeguard our future.'
