Understanding Project Managers' behaviour when using Artificial Intelligence for project control

1 Introduction
Coined by Schwab (2016) and brought to global attention during The World
Economic Forum conference 2016, the fourth industrial revolution brings together
the interaction of multiple technologies and research areas. Internet of Things, 5gnetwork
and Big Data are reshaping the possibilities for cloud-computing and smart
devices. Together with AI, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D-printing and brain
research, to mention some, the three elements of digital, physical and biological
are brought together and are able to contribute to the others' success. Along with
the fourth industrial revolution, Association for Project Management (APM) (2019)
suggest the project profession is entering a new phase, project management 4.0,
also named as the fourth evolution of project management. APM encourage
project practitioners to understand future disruptive technologies affecting
project environments in order to stay competitive. The leading industry
organisation placing focus on this topic, highlights the importance of this research
proposal.
The majority of AI related research contains of future predictions of opportunities
and threats AI may bring. Research in AI and business management has been done
previously, however, in the field project management little to none research has
been done in researching AI. This shows the importance of this topic and provides
arguments to conduct this research. This research will be beneficial for the project
profession, both for individuals and large project organisations implementing AI.
1.1 Research Context
The AI system is limited to its data input, the more specific the data used for AI,
the more accurate output AI will provide. Hong and Williams (2019) state the
debate of bias data is crucial for creating a healthy AI environment. Excessive
research is made in this area, however, a society with prejudice views might never
fully overcome to create non-bias AI. It is of importance to develop a holistic
perspective and spread awareness of this issue. Whyte, Stasis and Lindkvist (2016)
suggest it is essential for project managers to understand data-driven assets in
order to adapt for the future project management environment. Their findings
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suggest that project practitioners are not immune from the growing use of digital
data and the usage of previous project data needs to be treated correctly.
1.2 Stakeholder Interest
As more industries and enterprises discover the benefits of AI, project
practitioners are exposed to AI at a higher rate. AI is highly versatile and sub-areas
of AI frequently create excitement as well as confusion and misinterpretations of
underpinning principles. Goodwin (2018) states that our expectations of technology
are ahead of the development of technology itself. This sets project practitioners
into a difficult position of keeping their knowledge up to date. In order for AI
technology to enhance the project management profession, knowledge among
project practitioners of how to implement AI in their project processes are key. It
is suggested that organisations which are able to make the appropriate
investments in AI into their business models will benefit the most. The Project
Management Institute (PMI) (2017) predicts a potential GDP loss of 2.7 billion USD
in the UK economy due to future shortage of project managers. Positioning the
project profession as attractive for talented individuals to enter is therefore of
significant importance on a national perspective. A personal belief in spreading
awareness among the project management community, as well as personal gain of
knowledge of AI in project management are two personal factors for moving
forward with this research study. Stakeholders on a global scale in the project
community have significant interest in this study due to the disruptive impact of
AI. In order for project practitioners to stay competitive as individuals and the
project profession to stay attrac