Envisioning the future through AI: Unveiling the relation between the materiality and the discourse in the deployment of genAI in foresight practices

This study explores how ChatGPT influences Corporate Foresight by comparing scenario generation with and without AI assistance. The study examines the interaction between material tools (e.g., ChatGPT) and discourses around future scenarios. An experiment involving healthcare innovation participants revealed that ChatGPT-generated scenarios were often more optimistic and less critical of technological implications compared to traditional methods. Through qualitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis, we found that prompt design significantly affected outcomes: directive prompts led to over-optimistic scenarios, while exploratory prompts encouraged more balanced and reflective scenarios. The research also applies a materiality and discourses approach, showing how ChatGPT as a tool alters the narratives of future scenarios and impacts the power dynamics in scenario building. Carefully crafted prompts can thus enhance CF by integrating AI’s strengths while maintaining critical analysis.