Project Management Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

The notoriously high failure rate of projects has resulted in questioning the validity of the traditional view of managing projects. As a response to avoid project failures, scholars and practitioners have turned to the area of artificial intelligence (AI). This chapter attempts to explore the underlying principles of AI tools and to investigate how these tools have been used in the project management domain and how this will impact future PM research design, data collection and practices. The chapter then explores the underlying principles of system dynamics (SD) simulation modelling as an exemplar of the application of AI in the project management (PM) context. It also spells out various roles that AI techniques can play in the SD modelling process. Finally, this chapter attempts to forecast the future of AI tools in project management research based on emerging trends and issues arising from applying AI in PM research.