Image by Christa Neu
There is little doubt that generative artificial intelligence will cause massive disruptions in the world of business. Generative AI presents challenges, but also tremendous opportunities in shaping the future of work.
Since OpenAI launched the generative AI era with the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, global businesses—like most of the rest of the world—have had to adapt on the fly. Where traditional AI systems are “designed to recognize patterns and make predictions,” the World Economic Forum notes, generative AI “uses machine learning algorithms to create new and original content like images, video, text and audio.”
Content generation is already experiencing a seismic shift, and the impact on other areas—including supply chain management, cybersecurity, banking, resource deployment, high tech, marketing, sales and customer operations, to name just
a few—will be substantial.
As with previous times of technological breakthroughs and upheavals, the shockwaves will be felt most in the workplace.
What will the future—short-term and long-term—look like for Lehigh’s College of Business students? How do faculty members prepare students to thrive in the fast-changing business environment that awaits them? How do faculty members incorporate AI as a topic for research, a tool in conducting their research, or both? And how do they incorporate AI in teaching in a way that helps students avoid the pitfalls of generative AI in content creation and other areas? These are the questions we asked our faculty for the cover story.
“By 2030, activities that account for up to 30 percent of hours currently worked across the U.S. economy could be automated—a trend accelerated by generative AI.” —2023 report by the McKinsey Center for Government
Join the Discussion
As part of the Year of Learning, a college-wide initiative that focuses the Lehigh Business students and faculty on a particular area of interest through classroom activities and campus events, our faculty will engage students and fellow faculty to examine exciting opportunities, as well as the daunting challenges of the generative AI era that is still in its infancy.
This spring’s Year of Learning lecture will be delivered by Dr. Ramayya Krishnan. Dr. Krishnan is dean of the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the W. W. Cooper and Ruth F. Cooper Professors of Management Science and Information Systems and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. He is an expert on digital transformation and has worked extensively with firms and policy makers on using technology and analytics to achieve policy goals. His current research interests are in the responsible use of AI and in data driven approaches to support workforce development. He chairs the AI Futures Group of the National AI Advisory Committee which advises the President and the White House Office of AI Initiatives on AI policy.
Please join us this spring. Stay tuned to our social media for details.
Manoj K. Malhotra
Kevin L. and Lisa A. Clayton
Dean of the College of Business
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Editor’s Note: This is Dean Malhotra’s first fall semester at Lehigh Business. Read his thoughts on how he’s planning on growing the college on page 7.