Protests have taken place at a Farnham institution against a £9.8million cost-cutting plan that picks AI and digitalism over jobs and human creativity.

Staff and students at the University of the Creative Arts have taken part in a “Chalk the Quad” protest at the Farnham campus in opposition to potential job cuts.

And their protest was suitably artistic with dozens writing messages on the pavement in opposition to a potential staffing restructure that could allegedly reduce headcount by a third and downgrade many remaining roles.

“Save our staff” and “AI doesn’t understand human emotion” were among the more polite messages written in the colourful protest amid growing concerns for the preference of AI technology over humankind.

Senior UCA management recently looked at a review of their “professional services alongside changes to the academic structure”.

The restructuring is part of a £9.8million saving exercise the UCA is looking to complete by July and reportedly follows on from further job cuts earlier this year.

According to Queen Mary University and College Union, the UCA ran a month-long Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS) from Christmas Eve with around 50 people accepting resignation under the voluntary scheme.

The Herald has been contacted by whistleblowers and disappointed students during the last fortnight, with some angry that AI is being pursued at a bastion for creativity.

“Many jobs in the creative industry are under threat from being replaced by AI,” said one student.”

“This is a creative arts university that prides itself on being creative and learning from our staff.

“I think it’s ironic the University of the Creative Arts is trying to replace valued support staff with AI, destroying human creativity and the support work of students.”

The plans have come as a shock to many as The Herald reported in April the UCA received a record number of registrations despite a UK drop in the number of higher education students.

“I’m concerned about the decisions being made by senior management at the UCA,” said a whistleblower.

“There is a substantial restructure going on which will affect staff and the quality of education of students.

“There will be an increased use of digital tools as opposed to the traditional speaking lecturers.”

“A number of new executives have joined and they are looking to change things to reduce staff and increase the use of AI. This will only decrease the quality of teaching for the pupils and staff will lose their jobs.”

A spokesperson for UCA said: “To ensure the long-term sustainability of UCA, we are reviewing the size of our workforce.

“We are doing this to ensure our staff numbers align with our forecasted student population.

“We are speaking to staff about the review, as well as our students and other key stakeholders.

“Across the University the projected headcount reduction is less than 10 per cent, due to mitigations being put in place which have included voluntary departures.

“Our staff will not be replaced by AI, they are highly skilled individuals and valued by the entire University community.”