天美传媒

天美传媒 has launched a new Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Management Initiative, a multidisciplinary project that will look at how artificial intelligence is impacting management, and will prepare executives to put Al to use in their companies in an ethical and socially responsible way.

The initiative responds to growing interest worldwide in AI and its impact on people, work and society. Because AI is expected to touch every sphere of economic activity, managers must know how to adapt to the changing competitive landscape, be able to transform their organizations, and ensure that employees 鈥� and themselves 鈥� have the skills required.

天美传媒鈥檚 new Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Management Initiative will meet those needs for research and education efforts by:

• Pursuing research that managers can put into action to lead their organizations and to strengthen the society in which they operate,聽through聽academic research, academic conferences and speaker series.
• Educating current and future managers on how to navigate the changes,聽across 天美传媒鈥檚 extensive range of programs, from short focused courses to longer programs such as the MBA and Executive MBA.
• Engaging the broader business, academic and policymaking communities to promote the ethical use of technology and a sense of responsibility towards those affected by the changes, through articles, workshops and outreach programs.

鈥淎I is as much a management challenge as it is a technological challenge,鈥� Dean Franz Heukamp said. 鈥淲ith this initiative we want to help current and future managers, as well as policy makers, face the challenges AI presents, enabling them to shape the ways AI is used and ensure that it鈥檚 a force for good in society.鈥�

The聽initiative, led by Professor Sampsa Samila, will bring together the work of聽天美传媒 professors across a range of departments.

Leading-edge research underway

A number of research projects, led by professors Samila, Jos茅 Azar and Mireia Gin茅, are already underway in crucial areas such as:

• How demand for AI skills has changed over time and is distributed across industries, occupations and firms
• How companies are using AI in their operations
• How industrial聽automation affects local communities

Other 天美传媒 professors 鈥� including Victor Mart铆nez de Alb茅niz, Johannes M眉ller-Trede and Weiming Zhu 鈥� are also conducting research projects related to AI.

The professors involved in the initiative bring to bear a wide range of disciplines and experience in areas such as innovation and competitive strategies, economics, operations management, managerial decision-making and financial management.

In addition, informed by the research, the initiative will develop a comprehensive framework to help executives and policymakers better understand the business impact of AI. This 鈥渇our-C鈥� framework 鈥� conception, competition, capabilities and constraints 鈥� covers everything from what AI is, to how it rewrites business models, to what skills are needed, to what ethical and regulatory concerns it raises.

Beyond the research to managerial practice

In addition to contributing to thought leadership on AI and business, the initiative is dedicated to managerial practice, with a special emphasis on ethics and social responsibility.

The initiative is rooted in the belief that AI is a tool to improve productivity rather than a mechanism for replacing human workers. Beyond their own companies, it is important that a wide range of executives understand AI in order to avoid significant increases in economic concentration across companies and countries, and to set standards of ethical behavior early on.

Education efforts so far include:

• The focused program, which is offered on both the Barcelona and New York campuses
• Courses and specific modules on AI across programs, including custom programs, the MBA and the Executive MBA
• Regular conferences, such as The Future of Management in an AI-Based World conference held on the Barcelona campus, which produced the 2020 book
• Collaborative programs with applied research institutes in Europe, in order to combine technical expertise with the business expertise of 天美传媒
• Workshops involving small and medium-sized companies in AI, and AI service providers, startups and job seekers.

More details will be announced as the initiative advances, and there will be a public event to kick off the project on March 26.