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The article examines the potential of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, to creatively address complex business challenges. Research led by Harvard Business School’s Jacqueline Ng Lane, soon to be published in the journal Organization Science, compared human-generated ideas with those produced by AI. Participants were asked to propose business ideas for a sustainable circular economy, where resources are reused or recycled to develop new products. The research found that while human ideas often displayed more creativity and originality, AI-generated solutions were typically more practical and easier to implement. For instance, a human idea was praised for its innovation but deemed unrealistic, while AI’s proposal to convert food waste into biogas—a renewable energy made from decomposed organic materials—was seen as both viable and profitable. The study highlighted that the best results come from blending human creativity with AI’s efficiency. The authors recommend businesses foster an AI-literate workforce, avoid over-reliance on AI, and treat generative AI as a collaborative tool to produce innovative yet feasible solutions to complex problems.
