‘Job Opportunities Abound’: B-School Profs Share Insights From The Paris AI Action Summit

Louis-David Benyayer

Louis-David Benyayer is Associate Professor at ESCP Business School and is the AI Initiatives Coordinator for the school. His focus is on the strategic implications of AI, big data, and other digital technologies.

1. What were the main outcomes of the summit?

We will see true outcomes in the medium term but there are a few things we can already see emerging from the conversations. First, we are still far from a global governance of AI. The declaration was non-binding, expressed in general terms and wasn’t signed by the U.S. and the UK. This means the evolution of AI, technically, economically and from a regulatory perspective will continue to be decided independently across countries and regions.

Second, some countries (France) and regions (Europe) have used the occasion to announce massive investments in capacity building and data centers. This is a sign of an acceleration of the deployment of the technology, probably in response to the Stargate project announced by the U.S. a few weeks ago. Overall, defenders of a cautious approach towards AI might see the summit as a negative evolution from the previous AI summit in the UK which focused on risks and called for a controlled development of AI. Similarly, many observers shared their frustration regarding what they consider a very minimal consideration of the environmental impacts of AI.

2. What does this mean for the skills and knowledge B-school students need to develop

The AI Action Summit emphasized many already well-discussed topics for B-school students. First, it confirmed that there are job market opportunities around the technology: cloud companies, GenAI model builders, chip designers and manufacturers, application developers, etc. The business ecosystem is developing and needs talented managers for structuring, managing and scaling these businesses.

Second, with all the conversations about the automation/augmentation tradeoff, the summit reinforced the need for developing two types of skills. On the one hand, hard technical and technological skills to understand and manage the technology in the workplace; on the other hand, soft skills and critical thinking skills to remain independent from the technology and bring a uniquely human contribution.

Third, students in B-schools (but not only) should develop skills on how to use the technology for learning better, faster or more. In this matter, Business Schools have a responsibility to offer programs and methods to help students use the technology in their studies.

3. Where is business education on the adoption of AI in teaching, research, and ops?

Even though a lot of educational institutions are experimenting with this technology, we are still in the early days of adoption and the dust has not settled yet. From what we see in academic research and in practice at ESCP Business School, three adoption horizons are emerging. The first horizon is the impact of Generative AI on current practices. Many professors are experimenting with using AI to prepare courses better or faster, as a support for the students in their studies, and as a teaching assistant for providing customized feedback. It is also being used for analysing literature, fine-tuning research paper writing, and other such tasks. We have also had many discussions on the guidelines and rules around the use of AI: what uses should be authorized and prohibited during take-home assignments and how do we enforce these rules? In research, the conversation intensifies as we have seen a significant increase in paper production, but it is not always associated with quality. At the same time, we must consider the ethical dimension of using AI for teaching and research.

The second horizon is to redefine our practices and processes. In a world where virtually all information is available in a synthetic and dynamic way, what kinds of skillsets do we need to equip our students with and what pedagogy could leverage the technology without exposing our students to its main risk: acting as a substitute for the necessary efforts for learning? The third horizon, which is still to emerge, is the GenAI-natives initiatives or practices. What are the previously impossible things made possible by AI in education? The three horizons come with both excitement and responsibility. Excitement because the technology is versatile, widely available, and powerful. Responsibility because we need to tackle the challenges associated with its use in learning, teaching and research efficiently.

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