Business Administration Professor Presents to Shenandoah Valley Business Leaders

By Brian Laubscher
October 17, 2024

Jeff Schatten, associate professor of business administration at Washington and Lee University, recently gave a presentation titled "The AI Toolkit: Cutting-Edge Technologies for Business Performance" to more than 180 business leaders at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley's annual Business Forum Luncheon on Sept. 26 in Winchester, Virginia.

"Presenting to a group of business leaders about AI was both dynamic and eye-opening," said Schatten. "The audience was deeply engaged, full of questions and eager to expand their understanding of AI. While they were aware of the buzz around AI, it quickly became clear that they hadn't fully grasped the speed at which automation is reshaping industries and the urgency of developing AI expertise within their companies. They had seen the hype but lacked exposure to real-world use cases."

Schatten, whose research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), organizational behavior and leadership, led the group through practical situations where AI programs can be used to increase efficiency and productivity. He also covered risks brought on by this emerging technology. The presentation was recently summarized in an article written by Tabitha Reeves of the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record.

"My goal was to introduce cutting-edge AI tools and explore their practical implications, encouraging attendees to see AI not as a distant, Jetsons-like fantasy, but as an essential resource for today's business landscape," he said. "The discussion covered AI's current capabilities - from streamlining computer coding and acting as the ultimate brainstorming tool, to enabling autonomous customer service representatives, demonstrating Ph.D.-level reasoning and even functioning as agents acting in the real world on behalf of humans. We are witnessing the emergence of globally scaled, near-free, human-level super-intelligence, and the stakes could not be higher."

"Naturally, we also examined the risks of this emerging AI ecosystem," Schatten continued. "The same tools that will drive breakthroughs in drug discovery and climate tech will also be weaponized by bad actors. I'm particularly concerned about the potential for structural unemployment. Nonetheless, despite these challenges, witnessing AI evolve in real time makes this, in my view, an amazing time to be alive."

Schatten has been a member of the W&L faculty since 2016. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of Maryland, an MBA from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in managerial services from Georgia State University. His passion for AI will culminate in the forthcoming book "AI Will Take Your Job (and it's for the Best): Embracing the New Social Contract for the Age of AI," which is set to be published by Emerald Publishing in 2025.

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