Liabilities of Newness and Smallness in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: What Liabilities?

Abstract

The most significant improvement in productivity is the division of labor powered by technology. The speed at which businesses adopt, assimilate, and disseminate these technologies impacts their survival. Size has been identified as a major factor that affects the speed and rate of technology adoption. Despite the contribution of small businesses to the world’s economy, access to resources has constrained their growth, making them appear small, less legitimate, and more prone to failure. Artificial intelligence is helping small businesses gain legitimacy and overcome some of the liabilities of smallness and newness. Artificial Intelligence is a system created to analyze data and perform specific tasks through human-like decision-making processes and has significantly impacted organizations, societies, and individuals. AI adoption and benefits are not fully understood since existing literature is in its infancy and fragmented. Multiple or recurring Gartner’s Hype Cycles makes AI technology adoption different from general technology adoption. Moreover, with AI technology adoption, size and incumbency may not be advantageous to large businesses. Implications and future research directions are discussed.