Latest news with #brainstorming
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
ChatGPT harms ‘diversity of thought' during brainstorms, study finds
This story was originally published on HR Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily HR Dive newsletter. Artifical intelligence has been shown to help generate ideas, but there's a tradeoff, according to a new study out of the Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Authors of the study — Mack Institute fellow Lennart Meincke, Wharton professor Gideon Nave, and Mack Institute co-director Christian Terwiesch — found that while ChatGPT can enhance the creativity of individual ideas, it reduces diversity of thought within a group's ideas. That element can be the key to successful brainstorming. For example, participants were asked to invent toys using a brick and a fan. Among those using ChatGPT, 94% of the ideas they generated shared overlapping concepts, with nine participants independently giving their toy the same name, 'Build-a-Breeze Castle.' By contrast, human-generated ideas were completely unique, the study found. Overall, across five experiments, ChatGBT-assisted brainstorming sessions consistently produced narrower sets of ideas, according to the researchers. The findings highlight how overly relying on gen AI 'can limit the breadth of perspectives, even when individual ideas seem original,' a media release stated. In the employment context, over-reliance on AI tools is a familiar theme among 'the wild west mentality,' as one organizational psychologist dubbed it, of businesses racing to embrace the technology without being fully aware of how to implement it or the implications of doing so in its current form. But the human factor is still crucial. Both formal studies and individual anecdotes make clear that employers will likely face unwelcome setbacks by not taking it into account. For instance, almost 8 in 10 U.S. job seekers believe generative AI is appropriate during the hiring process for drafting resumes and cover letters and creating mock interview questions, according to an April report from Express Employment Professonals and The Harris Poll. On the other hand, 87% of the 1,000 job seekers surveyed said it's also important that humans — not bots — interview job candidates, arguing AI can't effectively vet candidates for soft skills such as cultural fit and attitude. The attitude is appearing across social media as well. 'If they don't have the decency to interview you face to face, they aren't worth your time,' one commenter said in response to a viral TikTok video of a robot conducting a glitched interview. Rushing to replace head count with AI may also lead to regrets, according to a recent survey by organizational design and planning software platform Orgvue. More than half of the business leaders who did so admitted they made the wrong decision, many confessing they didn't know which roles would benefit most from AI, the survey found. Productivity gains that AI promises require a partnership between people and machines — and intentional upskilling, Orgvue's CEO emphasized. Meanwhile, the authors of the Mack Institute study offer this tip for leaders seeking to boost team innovation and creativity: 'In real-world problem-solving, the true value of brainstorming stems from the diversity of ideas rather than multiple voices repeating similar thoughts,' they said. 'As original as transforming a tennis racket and a garden hose into a sprinkler may be, successful brainstorming would yield a mosaic of unique perspectives – not just a lineup of sprinklers,' the authors added. Recommended Reading Is the learning industry facing disruption — again?
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
The Next Casualty Of AI: The Lost Art Of Brainstorming
Latin American woman making a business presentation in a meeting at a creative office and pointing ... More to her team her business plan AI will not only kill jobs. It will kill critical functions, too. In 2024, I wrote about the first unintended consequence of AI: fundamental communication skills, the ones, when developed, become part of the foundation of great companies. In essence, AI is now doing what our new employees should be doing. Once the window for that has passed, it doesn't return. This, by the way, holds true for entry-level jobs in computer science like programming and coding; legal services like paralegals and assistants; and graphic arts like animation, preproduction, and post-production. Where has all the brainstorming gone? Serious enough, but so far, it's been about skills. Now, though, AI has shown it also kills - or at least has the power to kill – critical functions in the process. For instance, when was the last time you were part of a brainstorming session or long-term program? That question is rhetorical. We already know the answer. The reason for this is simple and obvious. Brainstorming is hard work (at least in the beginning) and AI is more than easy; brainstorming requires patience and AI is instant gratification; in brainstorming, the truth that there could always be more than one good answer is evident and in AI we tend to accept what shows up. There's an old saying – Never let a conclusion be where you got tired of thinking – and that just about sums it up. Bring back brainstorming – And Make It Succeed As it's been a while since you've brainstormed (don't BS me; yes, it has), here's a guide – and a most basic one – to help bring it all back home. Let this be where we start . The Five Commandments of Brainstorming 1. Make it cultural. It's not an event; it's an ingrained process to be done in frequent intervals. Sometimes a surprise brainstorming get together is highly productive. No one is a spectator – young and old, senior and junior, new or long-term, admin and executive. All in the same meeting. Diversity is a strength. Jack Welch used to say, 'Listen to the new guy.' 2. Brainstorming shoud be short. Short time spans – no more than 45 minutes – and small groups of people – 6-8, optimally. Let it get personal when necessary. Pizza lunches or bagel breakfasts are brainstorming hot houses. 3. No judgment. Ever. Encourage everyone's contribution. You never know where the next great idea will come from. There's no such thing as a bad idea, just ideas that may not work right now. Allow no negative reactions as ideas are generated. This is a time for dimension building. 4. Build on the ideas of others. This is a real source of power. Creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum. Whenever the word 'but' is used, replace it with 'and.' Watch the enormous effect of that change. 5. Do not discard any ideas. Ever. Record and post all ideas as they're offered. Reduce list to a small number of key ideas. This is where you find the diamonds. Refer to your archives from time to time. More diamonds. Brainstorming Sum and Substance We must not let brainstorming recede into the dust of history. If we do, then we're next.
Washington Post
13-06-2025
- Science
- Washington Post
How to better brainstorm with ChatGPT in five steps
To get the best out of a brainstorming session with ChatGPT, you may need to do a little more than just ask a basic question. People across industries are using ChatGPT, the artificial-intelligence-powered bot, to help them with tasks like summarizing documents, writing emails and generating ideas. More than 400 million users query the AI weekly. But when it comes to brainstorming, the bot may have a weakness, especially for users who pose basic prompts, according to a recent study from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. The results can be surprisingly alike with just slight variations, which can limit the pool of diverse responses.
South China Morning Post
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
This week in PostMag: from Milan's Chinatown to nomads in Malaysian Borneo
My best ideas always come when I'm in motion. For years, that movement came through cycling through Shanghai's tree-lined streets, legs pumping until I arrived either at some kind of breakthrough or my destination, whichever came first. Now, my most productive brainstorming is relegated to the interminably long walks underground on either end of my commute. (Getting out for a proper Hong Kong hike is on my list, promise.) But like many things, it turns out that my experience is, in fact, far more universal than I'd imagined. Perhaps there's studies about the link between moving and ideas – is it increased blood circulation? The cacophony of the outside world forming white noise to cocoon us in our own thoughts? Whatever the reason, movement as the cure to a creative block is a frequent refrain among the artists we interview. Hong Kong photographer South Ho Siu-nam is one of them, discovers Aaina Bhargava in our cover story this issue, as he describes walks around Sha Tin as his remedy to get unstuck. There's a poetic quality to his art – considered black-and-white cityscapes overlaid with coloured grids he describes as a meditative process that's connected to memories of his late father. Ho currently has a solo show on view at Blindspot Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang, and you have until June 7 to catch it. Reflection and introspection is also a journey that Esslin Terrighena finds herself on, albeit farther afield in Malaysian Borneo. She writes about what she learns from her time spent with the Penan, a once-nomadic hunter-gatherer community. As the world around them has modernised, they've adapted while maintaining a connection to the forest and land – offering lessons all us city dwellers could take on board. Changing communities are inevitable wherever you are in the world. John Brunton explores Milan's evolving Chinatown, a neighbourhood rich with history that's developed its own Chinese-Italian identity. And what's more? There's a Hong Kong connection, too. It's home to Trippa Milano, the sister restaurant of Central's own Testina. I hate to leave you on a grim note, but I fear I must. The final remaining feature in this issue centres on Christopher Munn's new book Penalties of Empire. Fionnuala McHugh dives into Hong Kong's history of capital trials, which, thankfully, came to an end in 1966. It may not be a light read, but it's a fascinating one.
