MSc students Philipp Athanasiadis and Johannes Javorsky came out on top with their essay discussing who really stands to gain from the rapid rise of generative AI.
The two are this year’s winners of BI’s Opinion Essay Competition, which is organised as part of the master course Ethics and Sustainability in Organizations each semester.
“We feel very honored to have won this year’s opinion essay competition and are happy to see that critical thinking is valued and encouraged,” say Philipp and Johannes.
In their essay, the two students question who really will benefit from the generative AI revolution and the possible extreme boost in productivity it is expected to bring.
Addressing AI responsibly
“We deeply believe that generative AI is an increasingly disruptive technology that will certainly change our future. How we deal with it will define whether the changes will be for the better or the worse. In our opinion, addressing generative AI responsibly is one of the most important challenges of today.”
The winners of the competition receive a prize of NOK 10,000 in addition to having their essay “Generative AI: A bright future ahead of us – but for whom?” published as a featured article on BI Business Review.
Leaders of tomorrow
Professor Caroline Dale Ditlev-Simonsen is responsible for the competition. She describes the essay competition as a great alternative to just tasking students with writing a regular assignment.
“This competition demands students to apply what they have learned, critically reflect, and take a personal stand on how the world of business approaches sustainability. Initiatives like this aim to support and enhance students’ skills and engagement when it comes to sustainable development and corporate sustainability. These are all highly important things to learn for a group of people that represent the leaders of tomorrow,” says Ditlev-Simonsen.
This year’s jury consisted of Karen Spens (President of BI), Abhimanyu Manimaran (Director Strategy and Partnerships, UN Global Compact Norway), Linn Dybdahl (Senior Adviser, NMBU) and Pål Nygaard (Associate Professor, BI).