ChatGPT and Beyond: A new way to technological innovation

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a type of AI that focuses on generating output based on input from its user. Unlike other types of AI, generative AI can generate unique content (e.g., text, images, and video) through natural-sounding conversations. This makes generative AI a powerful tool for not only technical but also non-technical users to work with.

In line with other AI tools, generative AI has the potential to significantly improve the business discovery and development processes of startups and entrepreneurs. For example, generative AI can create new product designs, identify market opportunities, and develop new business models. With the rapid development of AI, it is crucial to ensure that the technology continues to develop and be applied ethically and responsibly. However, there is a lack of understanding of how generative AI can be best applied to facilitate business discovery and development processes.

This project aims to explore how entrepreneurs use generative AI in their work and identify the antecedent and mechanism of successful adoption. Besides that, training materials will be developed to empower entrepreneurs to use generative AI tools to enhance their performance and well-being.

Project objectives

This project has three objectives:

1. Examine how entrepreneurs use generative AI tools to boost their productivity;
2. Examine important factors that contribute to the successful adoption of generative AI;
3. Develop training materials and workshops to facilitate the successful adoption of generative AI.

The Lean Startup framework will be used to guide the research and structure the training materials. This framework, developed by Eric Ries, emphasizes rapid experimentation and iteration to create a successful business model. By integrating Lean Startup with generative AI, entrepreneurs can experiment with faster and more accurate prototyping, gather more data for decision-making, automate manual tasks to save time and resources, and streamline processes to improve the scalability of the business.

Importantly, the training will adopt a balanced approach that aims to improve the performance and well-being (i.e., increase work engagement and reduce work stress) of entrepreneurs. This allows entrepreneurs to see generative AI as a resource (e.g., to complete work tasks efficiently) rather than a demand (e.g., pressure to adopt generative AI to maintain competitiveness).

Potential impact

• Scientific: Wide adoption of generative AI is a new phenomenon changing the business landscape. However, there is no empirical study examining its application in entrepreneurship. The outcome of this project will shed light on the current and potential application of generative AI in the business discovery and development process, contributing to the call for research on applying AI in the entrepreneurial context.
• Societal: The aim is to develop training materials that help entrepreneurs successfully adapt generative AI. This training can be shared in various formats, such as blog posts, online training, and workshops to the broader societal community. Furthermore, the training materials can be adapted to serve other users with different needs, such as students and employees across various industries. Since the training materials will be developed using the Lean Startup framework, which entrepreneurs and businesses widely use, it is expected that entrepreneurs can put the training into practice quickly.

Duration

The project will run for two years starting from July 2023 onwards.

Multidisciplinary project team

The multidisciplinary project team consists of:

• Dr. Plato Leung, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS), who’s research lies at the intersection of psychology, entrepreneurship, and digitalization. He will contribute to this project with his domain knowledge in entrepreneurship and the technical skills required (e.g., web scraping and text analysis).
• Dr. Christine Fong, Assistant Professor at the Department of Human Resource Studies, who has a background in understanding how individuals proactively design/ re-design their environment to achieve desired outcomes. She will contribute to this project by understanding the current applications of AI tools and developing training programs to enhance the application of generative AI further.
• Dr. Ksenia Podoynitsyna, Associate Professor at the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS), who focuses on how data create and capture value for new businesses. With ample experience in program and project management, she will monitor and manage the project.

Datacation is a startup that uses data science to support organizations in creating substantial and long-term value and becoming even more successful. As a startup in the data science industry interested in understanding how generative AI can enhance business development and discovery processes, Datacation provides an excellent platform to co-develop and assess the effectiveness of the training materials of this project.

This project is funded by Tilburg University’s Digital Sciences for Society program: