Hiring Theater Majors for AI Writing & Prompt Engineering

AI is changing the game across industries, and its rapid evolution opens doors to roles I didn’t even know we needed a few years ago. One such role? Prompt engineering. It’s relatively new, and the demand for its use is evolving by the minute. However, it involves crafting effective prompts to guide AI systems like ChatGPT in producing useful outputs. It’s part science, part intuition, and maybe surprisingly, part theater.

You might associate theater majors with stage lights, soliloquies, and impromptu plays, but their unique skills are highly transferable to fields like AI writing and prompt engineering. As someone who holds a BFA in Theater Arts, theater majors are used to blending creativity and structure in a way that makes us perfect for crafting impactful AI prompts.

Ask any prompt engineer, AI writer/content creator, or even marketing professional, and they’ll tell you there’s an element of storytelling behind their work. And if there’s one thing theater majors understand, it’s story.

The Theater Major Advantage

1. Creativity as a Core Competency

Theater majors bring something every prompt engineer searches for: imaginative thinking. We’ve spent years honing our creative problem-solving skills, whether reinterpreting a Shakespearean monologue, improvising dialogue on stage, or coordinating a unique stage design.

The beauty of theater training lies in its ability to prime graduates for thinking outside the box. No two plays are alike, and no two prompts should be either. When tasked with crafting innovative prompts, theater majors excel at generating fresh ideas on the fly. Need the AI to produce 10 blog title options about sustainable fashion? A theater major can find the right tone and context for the prompt in no time.

Creativity isn’t just a byproduct of our training—it’s our superpower.

2. The Power of Storytelling

Every successful AI output starts with a thoughtful prompt, and crafting those prompts often means understanding how to structure a story—beginning, middle, and end. Theater majors live and breathe story structure. We know how to set up a narrative, build tension, and deliver resolution, which is vital even in business applications of AI.

For instance, a theater graduate can frame prompts as narratives with key objectives. Imagine writing, "Craft a promotional email targeting first-time customers. Highlight an emotional story about the product’s impact, then transition smoothly to the benefits and a call-to-action." It’s storytelling, designed for results.

Theater majors understand that good writing not only gets the job done but also resonates emotionally.

3. Improvisation and Adaptability

Those who have a theater background are masters of adaptability. On-stage mistakes happen—it’s inevitable. Props are misplaced, co-stars flub their lines, and sometimes, you forget your own. The solution? Improvise.

This ability to adapt quickly also applies to the iterative nature of AI. Sometimes, a prompt will yield mediocre or even nonsensical results. Iteration is key—adjusting the language, tweaking instructions, or reworking the framing altogether. Theater majors thrive on thinking quickly and staying flexible, so we are incredibly well-equipped for these processes.

4. Empathy and Understanding Human Behavior

AI writing is about simplifying communication. Theater majors, with our deep study of human behavior, emotions, and motivations, are uniquely equipped to create writing that feels organic and intuitive.

We approach AI writing and prompts with the same mindset we use to create characters. A rich understanding of audience behavior adds depth to our writing and enhances the emotional engagement of AI outputs. For a system that thrives on the human touch, why not turn to a creative professional who knows the human condition better than most?

Applications of Theater Majors in AI Writing

It’s one thing to argue the advantages we bring, but how does this play out in real-world applications? Here are a few examples of how theater majors can make waves in AI writing and beyond:

Marketing Content Creation – Writing prompts and content to generate compelling email campaigns, social media posts, and branding materials.
Creative Problem Solving – Crafting unique AI tasks or coming up with creative uses for new AI tools.
Training AI Systems – Using storytelling and improvisation skills to guide the training of AI in structured, innovative ways.
Breaking Through Writer’s Block – Developing imaginative prompts that help teams stuck in creative ruts jumpstart new ideas.

Theater majors naturally apply our storytelling abilities and artistic instincts to align AI-generated text with business goals, making us invaluable across creative and technical fields.

Looking Forward

We live in a world where the lines between technology and creativity are increasingly blurred. More than ever, businesses need professionals who can straddle both worlds. The arts and humanities, often overlooked in technical roles, provide rich, transferable skills to industries reshaped by AI.

Before you dismiss someone’s background just because it’s unconventional, consider this question: Why not try? Bringing theater majors onto your AI writing or prompt engineering teams could unlock untapped value.

Whether you’re hiring your next AI writer or considering how AI could benefit from less tech-heavy talent pools, here’s something to chew on. The gap between creativity and technology is smaller than it seems, and often, innovation lies in those unexpected connections.