Well, I didn't say everyone would become artists, but we already see far more people today working in artistic fields than we did in past ages. The web, for instance, has brought a huge increase in demand for graphic artists, writers, designers, musicians. Not perhaps the highest quality in all cases, but there is a definite trend in Western society towards a greater number of 'artistic' professionals. Book stores are selling more and more books every year, because people have more time to read. Someone has to write those books. There are more TV channels and movie releases, all of which mean more actors, screen writers, directors, etc. These kind of roles are unlikely ever to be taken over by machines, even AIs, because people wouldn't want them to. No artist likes to think that a machine could equal or better their creation, and without a lot of input from artists, you aren't ever going to get artistic AIs, are you?

And as for your neighbor across the road, well, you never know. Interpretive dance might not be his or her shtick, but perhaps painting or sculpture or artistic blacksmithing might be an undiscovered talent. We're looking at generational changes. Even fifty years makes a big difference in general societal outlook, even if individuals don't change.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com