Systems Approaches to Generative AI: Workforce Development, Organisational Learning, and Economic Transformation
A special issue of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Practice in Social Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2027
Editor
Interests: generative artificial intelligence (GenAI); systems thinking and socio-technical systems; information systems and digital transformation; business and technology management; innovation and entrepreneurship; organizational transformation
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly transforming educational institutions, workplaces, organisations, and economies. However, these transformations cannot be fully understood by examining isolated technologies, users, or organisational processes. Rather, GenAI operates within complex socio-technical systems characterised by interdependent actors, technologies, policies, workflows, feedback mechanisms, and adaptive behaviours.
This Special Issue seeks contributions that examine Generative AI through the lens of systems theory and systems practice. We particularly welcome research that applies systems concepts and methodologies to understand how GenAI influences learning systems, workforce development, organisational capability, digital transformation, and economic performance. Relevant theoretical perspectives include socio-technical systems theory, systems thinking, complex adaptive systems, cybernetics, system dynamics, soft systems methodology, viable systems theory, enterprise systems, and human-centred systems design.
The Special Issue encourages studies that investigate the interactions, feedback loops, emergent behaviours, unintended consequences, and adaptive responses that arise from the adoption of GenAI across educational, organisational, industrial, and governmental contexts. Contributions may explore how AI-enabled systems support workforce reskilling and upskilling, organisational learning, decision-making, innovation, productivity, governance, and human-AI collaboration.
The aim is to advance understanding of how Generative AI reshapes interconnected human, organisational, and technological systems and how these transformations influence long-term societal and economic capability.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Socio-technical systems approaches to GenAI adoption
- Systems thinking and AI-enabled organisational transformation
- System dynamics modelling of workforce development and reskilling
- Human-AI collaboration within complex adaptive systems
- Enterprise systems and AI integration
- Feedback loops and emergent behaviours in AI-enabled environments
- AI governance from a systems perspective
- Systems engineering approaches for AI implementation
- Organisational learning systems and GenAI
- AI-enabled capability development and economic systems
- Networked ecosystems for AI innovation
- Digital transformation as a socio-technical system
- Resilience, sustainability, and adaptability in AI-enabled systems
Dr. Ali Ahsan
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)
- systems thinking
- socio-technical systems
- complex adaptive systems
- system dynamics
- workforce development
- organisational learning
- human–AI collaboration
- digital transformation
- information systems
- AI governance
- enterprise systems
- systems engineering
- organisational capability
- economic capability
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