After the significant rise of artificial intelligence in recent years and the increasing use of AI tools on a daily basis, it is only natural to ask how this process will affect different fields. One thing is certain – AI will not only make our lives easier, but it will also bring challenges.
This is also the opinion of Barbara Stötinger, dean of the Academy for Executives of the Vienna University of Economics .
«One of the biggest challenges for us comes from the dynamics of our environment. We are constantly asking ourselves what to teach our students, what to bring with us to the classroom,» says Stöttinger.
«5 years ago — 2018, the world was totally different compared to now. 2020 brought us COVID, in 2022 the war started, and after that came high inflation, high fuel prices. What has happened in the last 5 years has turned our lives upside down. During COVID, one of the challenges for us was that students could not come to campus and we had to find a way to continue the MBA program despite that. For us, this led to innovation. Rules and regulations that everyone said couldn’t be changed had to be found a way to overcome overnight. AI has also suddenly entered our daily lives,” she says, adding that it is important not only for professors and university leaders to find ways to deal with these difficulties, but to prepare their students to deal with them in turn.
Many of the students in VIU’s MBA program are actually business owners or managers in leadership positions, so it is important to them how to handle this dynamic as leaders.
«Responsible leadership is very important — to learn to navigate the changing situation, but not only for your employees, but also for yourself. We often ask these questions in our programs. In addition, the process is two-way – when you are faced with managers or business owners who are going through this same world of changes, you can also learn from their experience», emphasizes Stöttinger.
Invariably, there is also the question of whether there is anything to worry about when we use AI, whether it is possible for artificial intelligence to replace the human and the leader.
“AI is good at what it does and has many applications, there’s no need to ignore that. A man is not going to go racing a car. It can cope in the first meters, but at a greater distance it will certainly lag behind. AI is very useful, but it will not replace human qualities anytime soon», says Barbara Stötinger and makes an analogy with calculating with a Christmas tree — the person is the one who needs to know how to use the machine and who evaluates the result in the end.
«For example, if I have to write a speech, especially in a language that’s not my native language, and I have a few ideas, instead of sitting for hours trying to come up with that speech, I can help myself with ChatGPT, but in the end I’ll still be the one who will evaluate the result, I will decide if this is the message I want my speech to have», Stöttinger gives an example.
«Technology itself is neutral. It does what it was created to do. What it is used for has to do with a person’s goals.”
