Degrees of Change

Chapter 15Bots and Business Schools: Rethinking Education for the Era of Generative AI

—Robert Seamans and Arun Sundararajan, New York University Stern School of Business

AI is poised to drive significant productivity gains, particularly in white-collar professions—many of which are filled by business school graduates. Yet this high occupational exposure to AI has not been accompanied thus far by corresponding changes in business school coursework, suggesting an urgent need to integrate AI into their curricula. In this chapter, we explore how generative AI can serve as a feedback tool, support critical thinking, and act as an instructional partner. We also highlight gaps in empirical evidence and call for experimentation and research to guide thoughtful AI adoption in business education.

Introduction

Over the past two decades, productivity growth in developing countries has been slowing. Whereas from 1996 to 2006, productivity growth averaged 2.7 percent across 37 advanced economies, from 2006 to 2016 it averaged about 1 percent (Furman, 2018). Economic theory suggests that one way to boost productivity growth is through the introduction of new technologies. The history of new technologies, from the steam engine to electricity, suggests that they have indeed boosted productivity growth and GDP in the long run. However, the economic benefits from these new technologies are often not experienced equally across the population.

The dramatic advances in AI over the past decade ...