Business Forecasting in Collaboration with Generative AI

Students in an undergraduate upper-level Business Forecasting course at Penn State University Lehigh Valley apply Generative AI to explore its role in enhancing case study analysis. The students use a Harvard Business School case study to analyze the role of business forecasting in predicting demand for a new product in the market under specific conditions. Students first discuss the case study individually and then use AI with “prompt engineering” techniques to compare results under two different scenarios. The findings suggest that AI generally improved the depth and structure of responses, refining students’ arguments and adding several insights that were sometimes overlooked in independent analyses. However, students also noted instances where AI produced overly generic responses or failed to capture the full context of the case. While AI mostly increased productivity and quality of work, the results were not uniformly positive. Overall, students considered AI a collaborator rather than a mere tool, finding its use rewarding but requiring human oversight for optimal effectiveness.