Bridging the Triple Bottom Line: Art & Design Students' Perspectives and Incorporation of Artificial Intelligence for Their Entrepreneurial Projects

Abstract

The current research investigates the interrelationships within the field of sustainable entrepreneurship, focusing on the evolution of the construct concerning the triad social, economic, and environmental and the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in creative practices. Within the management discipline, sustainable entrepreneurship is a new construct. Most of the literature addresses the practice as ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable business practices’. The term entrepreneurship is sustained in the literature to bridge the entrepreneurship and sustainable development literature. For this research, a qualitative approach was taken. The participants of the study included 39 students from Art & Design. They were also part of the research sample. These students were later assigned an entrepreneurial project where they incorporated sustainability and creatively AI integration as a core variable in the design, operational, and ethical frameworks. The sample comprised students from the last semester of four different sectors: Fashion Design, Textile Design, Interior Architecture Design, and Graphic Design. Adopting sustainable entrepreneurship strategies that satisfy all stakeholders' operational needs and advantages is challenging. This is due to institutional frameworks prioritizing established businesses and non-sustainable practices over newly sustainable alternatives. The results from this research offer valuable information regarding certain aspects of sustainable entrepreneurship, student perspectives regarding the role of AI in enhancing the ethics of the design and production processes, and the capacity of such innovations to promote a transition to a developing country’s economy.