Trajectories of AI technologies: Insights for managers

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) was always 'in the future.' With the release of the chatbot ChatGPT 4 there is emerging consensus that the future may have begun. Long in gestation this new technology promises a cornucopia of benefits to humankind, but worries remain that as general artificial intelligence scales, exceeding human intelligence, the servant may become the master. However, in the hyperbole the more nuanced trajectories of this technology have been neglected. In this article we use the Trajectories of Technology (ToT) framework developed by Berthon and colleagues to explore the disparate paths that AI and its present incarnation in chatbots has and will take in the coming years. This framework provides managers with a conceptual tool to strategically plan for the enormous promises and perils of AI in general and chatbots specifically.