| dc.description.abstract | Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly expanded across various sectors and industries in
recent years, with applications ranging from chatbots to Large Language Models (LLMs)
like ChatGPT. Despite its widespread adoption, concerns persist regarding privacy, data
handling, and reliability. The integration of AI into Project Management (PM) remains
underexplored, possibly due to the rapid expansion and wide usability of LLMs. This thesis
aims to address this research gap by investigating the utilization of AI tools by project
managers.
We propose the following Research Questions (RQs) to address this gap: (RQ1): What types
of AI tools are used in project management, and for what specific purposes?, and (RQ2): How
do AI tools affect project management using the PMBOK7 project performance domains of
Planning, Uncertainty, and Team?
A literature search and a qualitative study were conducted. The literature search provided
insights into the current literature on AI in PM, highlighting gaps and promising areas for
future research. Additionally, it identified the PMBOK7 framework to contextualize and
validate the findings. The qualitative study involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews
with nine Norwegian project managers with an average of 17 years of experience.
The research revealed widespread utilization of AI tools in PM, with five distinct use cases
identified as the most common: discussion partner, text refinement, meeting transcription,
PDF summary, and work breakdown. These use cases were analyzed within the context
of the PMBOK7 framework, demonstrating how AI tools assist project managers in the
subdomains of planning, uncertainty, and team. These findings suggest that AI adoption by
project managers is already widespread, yet literature has not fully explored its implications.
Additionally, the generalizability of the findings to the PMBOK7 framework implies potential
benefits of AI adoption in PM across various industries. | |
