Your best course of action is to cheat and put your name on every paper

Generative AI is the biggest tech issue of our time. We might be witnessing history in the making. At least, so says , who is not only but also has been studying AI and innovation for years and who is part of an inter-disciplinary team that explores the impact of generative AI on professional practices. Together, we decipher what is new and what is not, what is different and what is the same, before and after tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney entered society at large. As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

Trivia question: which information systems scholar was a division one tennis professional and has an award-winning MIS Quarterly paper to her name? Of course, it can only be . She joins us today to talk about bots and cyborgs, how to deal with publishing pressures, and how to find a perfect co-author. Our solution is to build a Tinder platform that allows finding the perfect co-author match for your next project. And we agree that you should never put your name on a paper where you do not agree with every single sentence. As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

One of the biggest cases of academic misconduct in recent times has been the case involving Francesca Gino, Dan Ariely, and Max Bazerman. Is there anything we can learn from this case and how it was handled? Nick and Jan are back from the winter break and dig straight into questionable research practices, whistleblowers, senior co-authors and what we as a field should be doing to prevent fraud to undermine our research contributions. As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

As the year draws to a close, it is time for us to revisit some of the best IS scholarship that got published this year. Yes, time for the 3rd annual thisISresearch podcast awards.  This year, it was particularly tough to choose so we just invented a new award! Tune in to find out who won the trailblazing research award, the innovative method award, and our brand-new elegant scholarship award! As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

What is so special about digital technology? Is digital innovation about architecture or is it about data? We talk with the enigmatic – truly one of the great thinkers in our field. Our conversation covers the ambivalence of digital objects, the role of data as records in organizations, the role of books in expressing broader ideas in scholarship, and whether information systems can or should delve into metaphysics at all. As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

Nick and Jan venture into new publishing territory. We talk with the fabulous , one of the information systems department editors at , about journal procedures, reviewer expectations, and innovations in the review process. We discuss how our field nurtures multiple communities that all share the aim of advancing information systems knowledge and scholarship. And it’s fair to say that both Nick and Jan now have Management Science more on the radar screen as an information systems outlet than before we produced this episode. As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

ChatGPT is back in our podcast one more time. Last time we talked about its impact on the academic enterprise. But ChatGPT is also the key digital technology issue of our time. It should be researched, of course, and we information systems researchers should jump on the opportunity to learn more about it. What are some of the questions that surround ChatGPT and similar forms of generative artificial intelligence? We look at a few research ideas at the individual, collective, firm, and economic level. And we conclude that whatever topic people are researching, their key challenge will be to theorize about what’s different with generative artificial intelligence and what is not. As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

Or maybe it did not. Who knows? ChatGPT is here for the world to see and not even our podcast can avoid talking about it. All the firms we know have long started exploring ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies. Will generative AI also change the academic enterprise? Some suggest it already has. We think we are at the cusp of changes, both in degree and in kind. ChatGPT may help people get started and may even alleviate some of the laborious research tasks but at the end of the day, the academic profession is a person-centric profession built around individual expertise, trust, and honesty of knowledgeable academics. You cannot automate that.  As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

IS as a field has the same problem that IT departments have in organizations - we think those other people should come to us with their questions about digitalization and benefit from our decades of wisdom! But we argue that this is not going to happen. It is our job (as it is the IT manager's job) to make the case for how we can help. OK, so that's a portion of what we talk about today. We actually meander a bit. We jump across a whole lot of topics, from IS' status as a reference discipline, the quarrels of IT departments with other business divisions, what our favorite conferences are, how to engage with conversations occurring in other fields, and what is so special about Taylor Swift. So it’s all over the place. But the good news is we laugh a lot and future episodes will be more focused again, we promise. As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .

Someone asked us to do an episode on books that shifted our thinking. So here we are and we each brought two books that changed the way we look at the world when we read them. We discuss these books and what new things they told us. And of course, it’s turning into a showoff about who remembers more from these books. And suffice to say: Jan loses this battle.   As usual, the references to readings we mention are listed on .