Clair Thomsen , Geoffrey G. Bell

What Every Executive Needs to Know About Sustainability

Introduction

What every executive needs to know about sustainability. Executives: Access reliable sustainability readings. This study compares human & AI recommendations, revealing AI limits and stressing human expertise for sustainable business practices.

Abstract

Because sustainability is crucial for both business and society, executives require reliable resources to understand and implement sustainable business practices. Unfortunately, there is little guidance to help executives determine valuable sources, forcing them to identify relevant materials on their own, which is problematic because this domain is often unfamiliar to them. We address this problem by leveraging human and artificial intelligence to identify sustainability readings appropriate for executives. We surveyed business sustainability scholars for their recommendations and tested ChatGPT’s ability to generate recommendations, comparing its selections to those of our human experts. While the human experts provided a wide range of recommendations with limited overlap, we identified several central themes. In contrast, ChatGPT’s recommendations, while sometimes insightful, included instances of hallucination. Executives who rely on AI-generated reading lists may find themselves thwarted and frustrated by nonexistent recommendations, emphasizing the importance of human expertise. Ultimately, our results provide guidance for business leaders seeking to deepen their understanding of sustainability while cautioning against overreliance on artificial intelligence.

Review

The paper "What Every Executive Needs to Know About Sustainability" addresses a timely and critical gap in business literature: providing accessible, reliable, and curated resources for executives seeking to understand and implement sustainable practices. Recognizing that the sustainability domain can be unfamiliar and overwhelming for business leaders, the authors propose an innovative approach to identify valuable learning materials. This research is particularly pertinent given the increasing imperative for organizations to integrate sustainability into their core strategies, underscoring the need for informed decision-making at the highest levels and highlighting the challenge executives face in discerning credible information. The methodology employed is a key strength, combining human expertise with an assessment of artificial intelligence capabilities. The authors systematically surveyed business sustainability scholars to gather expert-validated reading recommendations, which yielded a diverse yet thematically consistent set of guidance. In parallel, they critically evaluated ChatGPT's ability to generate similar recommendations, revealing a stark contrast: while AI offered some useful suggestions, it also produced instances of "hallucination"—non-existent references. This direct comparison not only provides a valuable curated list for executives but also serves as a crucial caution against an uncritical reliance on AI for content generation and curation in complex and evolving fields. Ultimately, this paper makes a dual contribution. Firstly, it offers practical, expert-backed guidance for executives eager to deepen their understanding of sustainability, helping them navigate a complex information landscape effectively. Secondly, it provides a timely and important empirical demonstration of the limitations of current AI models, particularly concerning accuracy and validity in specialized domains, thereby underscoring the irreplaceable value of human expertise and critical judgment in content curation. This work will undoubtedly be a valuable resource for executives and educators alike, shaping how leaders approach sustainability education and how they critically engage with AI-generated information.

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