Business Research Proposal: The Role of Humanities in the Age of AI

1. Understanding the Problem and Defining the Goal

• Your Profile: You are a consultant tasked with understanding a complex socio-technological shift. Your client—likely a university, foundation, or tech-forward organization—needs to move beyond the abstract debate and develop concrete strategies.
• Problem Category: This is a Strategic Foresight and Stakeholder Alignment problem. It involves understanding the perspectives of diverse groups (academics, tech leaders, students) and identifying new, viable opportunities at the intersection of two historically separate fields.
• Industry: Higher Education, Technology, Public Policy.
• Final Research Output: The goal is not just a report, but a strategic playbook. Your final deliverable should be a portfolio of actionable recommendations, including:
  1. A New Value Proposition for the Humanities: A clear framework articulating the specific, high-demand "jobs" that humanities disciplines can perform in an AI-driven economy.
  2. Strategic Roadmap for Academia: 3-5 concrete recommendations for universities to adapt their curricula, create interdisciplinary programs, and support faculty in preparing students for the future. 3too_code print(google_search.search(queries=['humanities skills in AI development', 'value of humanities in the age of AI', 'tech companies hiring humanities graduates roles', 'AI and future of humanities education studies', 'how to adapt humanities curriculum for AI era']))
  3. An "AI-Humanist" Talent Blueprint for the Tech Industry: Detailed descriptions of 2-3 new or evolved roles within tech companies that require a hybrid of humanities and technical literacy, along with guidance on where to source and how to integrate this talent.
  4. A Pilot Program Design: A proposal for a tangible, small-scale pilot project (e.g., a joint university-corporate fellowship) to test and demonstrate the value of humanities-AI integration, including key success metrics.
  5. A Multi-Stakeholder Communication Plan: A set of tailored key messages to persuade different audiences (students, faculty, tech recruiters, policymakers) of the renewed relevance of humanities.

2. Recommended Frameworks & Methodology

• Framework Teaching:
  • Stakeholder Analysis: This framework is used to identify all the individuals and groups affected by the issue, map out their interests and influence, and understand their current stance. It helps answer the question, "Whose perspectives matter most, and why?" We typically categorize stakeholders on a grid based on their level of power (influence) and interest in the topic to prioritize engagement.
  • Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD): This framework shifts focus from a product or service (in this case, a "humanities degree") to the customer's underlying goal. The core idea is that people "hire" products or services to make progress in their lives—to get a "job" done. By understanding the "job," we uncover the real motivation and need. For example, a tech company doesn't just want to "hire a philosopher"; they might want to "hire" someone to "reduce the risk of releasing a biased algorithm" or "build user trust in our AI assistant."
• Applicability Explanation:
  • This problem is defined by the conflicting or misunderstood perspectives of different groups. Stakeholder Analysis is essential for systematically mapping this landscape. It will ensure you don't just listen to the loudest voices but engage the right people.
  • The "crisis of the humanities" is partly a crisis of perceived utility. The JTBD framework is perfectly suited to reframe this. Instead of asking the existential question, "What is the purpose of the humanities?", JTBD forces a practical inquiry: "In an AI-saturated world, what functional 'jobs' arise that humanities-trained minds are uniquely equipped to perform?" This moves the conversation from defense to offense, focusing on opportunity and value creation.

PART 1: INFORMATION COLLECTION

A. Web Search Plan

• Search Topics:

  1. "Crisis of the humanities" reports and studies

     ,

     "philosophy of AI curriculum examples"

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     "future of liberal arts education + AI"

     • Purpose: To gather background information on the current academic discourse and identify key institutions and academics (stakeholders) leading the conversation.

  2. "Skills gap in AI development"

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     "most in-demand soft skills in tech"

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     "tech companies hiring humanities majors"

     • Purpose: To gather market-side data. This helps identify the potential "jobs" (needs) that the tech industry is already expressing, even if they aren't using the language of the humanities.

  3. "AI ethics frameworks"

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     "principles for responsible AI"

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     "explainable AI challenges"

     • Purpose: To understand the specific, non-technical problems tech companies are facing. These problems are fertile ground for identifying high-value "Jobs-to-be-Done."

B. User Interview Plan

• Interview Subjects (Stakeholder Groups):
  • Group A: Humanities Leadership: Deans of Arts & Humanities, department chairs (e.g., Philosophy, History, Literature), and career center directors at major universities.
  • Group B: Tech Industry Leaders: Hiring managers, product managers, and leaders in AI/ML, User Experience (UX) Research, and AI Ethics/Responsible AI departments at technology companies.
  • Group C: The "Bridge" Individuals: People with a primary degree in the humanities who are now working in core technology or strategy roles.
  • Group D: Students: Current upper-level humanities majors and recent graduates (past 1-3 years).
• Core Interview Questions (by group):
  • For Tech Leaders (Group B): Purpose: To uncover the unsolved "jobs" in the tech innovation lifecycle.
    • "Walk me through a time a technology project faced a significant non-technical hurdle—such as user misinterpretation, ethical backlash, or internal disagreement on the product's purpose. What was the core struggle there?"
    • "When you think about the ideal skillset for a team building a complex AI product, what's a missing piece that isn't purely about coding or data science?"
    • Analysis Purpose: These questions are designed to elicit stories of struggle, which are the raw material for defining a JTBD. The answers will point to needs like "minimize negative societal impact," "craft a clear and compelling product narrative," or "navigate ambiguous ethical territory."
  • For Humanities Leadership (Group A): Purpose: To translate academic value into the language of JTBD.
    • "Instead of listing departmental learning objectives, can you tell me a story about a former student who you feel truly embodies the value of your program? What 'superpowers' did they develop?"
    • "If a major tech company offered you a partnership, what 'job' would you propose your students and faculty could do for them that their own engineers can't?"
    • Analysis Purpose: This reframes the conversation from defending a discipline to proposing its value. It helps translate abstract concepts like "critical thinking" into concrete job functions like "deconstructing and stress-testing business assumptions."
  • For "Bridge" Individuals (Group C): Purpose: To find proven examples of the humanities-AI value proposition.
    • "Describe a specific project or meeting where you felt your humanities background allowed you to see something your technically-trained colleagues missed. What was the situation and what was the outcome?"
    • "What 'job' do you think you were really hired to do? What is the core problem you solve for your team day-to-day?"
    • Analysis Purpose: These individuals are living proof of a successful JTBD. Their stories provide the most credible and specific examples of how humanities skills are applied in practice.

PART 2: INFORMATION ANALYSIS

1. Map the Stakeholders: Use your web search and interview findings to plot the stakeholder groups on a Power/Interest grid. For example, Tech Hiring Managers have high power and high interest, making their "Jobs-to-be-Done" a top priority. This will help you focus your analysis on the needs that matter most for creating real change.
2. Synthesize and Cluster the "Jobs-to-be-Done": Go through all your interview transcripts and extract the "JTBD" statements (e.g., "We struggle to explain why our AI made a certain decision," "Our team gets stuck in debates about fairness," "Students are worried about their careers becoming obsolete"). Cluster similar jobs together to identify the most frequent and urgent needs. You should aim for 5-7 high-level "Jobs" that are prevalent across multiple stakeholder groups.
3. Construct the "Humanities Value Proposition" Framework: This is the centerpiece of your analysis. Create a table that connects the JTBD to the humanities.

   Stakeholder's 'Job-to-be-Done'	Humanities Skill That Performs the Job	Academic Discipline(s) That Cultivate It
   e.g., "Reduce the risk of launching biased AI."	e.g., Ethical reasoning, historical context analysis.	e.g., Philosophy, History, Sociology.
   e.g., "Design an AI that feels intuitive and helpful."	e.g., Narrative construction, understanding human motivation.	e.g., Literature, Psychology, Anthropology.

4. Develop Actionable Roadmaps and Blueprints: Use the Value Proposition Framework to generate your final outputs:
   • For the Academia Roadmap: Look at your framework. If a key "job" is "Navigating Ambiguous Information," your recommendation could be to create a required course for STEM majors on "Logic, Rhetoric, and Information Integrity."
   • For the Tech Talent Blueprint: That same "job" from the tech side suggests a new role. You can define a "Product Ethicist" or "AI Red Team Specialist" role, using your interview data to describe their responsibilities and the qualifications needed, which would be a blend of technical literacy and a deep humanities background.
5. Design the Pilot Program and Communication Plan: Identify the most urgent "Job-to-be-Done" shared by a high-power university and a high-power tech company. Design a small, low-risk pilot program that directly addresses this job (e.g., a semester-long "Embedded Ethicist" program). Use the JTBD language to create compelling messages for each stakeholder, explaining how this initiative helps them achieve their goals.