Thesis Announcements

When walking through German city centers, the notices in the windows of numerous retail stores catch the eye: “Employees wanted”. Demographic change and the shortage of skilled workers are hitting the retail sector hard. Especially after the Covid-19 pandemic led to many service staff reorienting themselves and not returning to their original profession. But why are promising AI technologies, such as service robots, hardly used in retail? Are they not a promising solution to current problems?

Robots get increasingly involved in human lives. The rapid advancements in new technologies, such as service robots, confront people with new challenges and crucial ethical questions as well as problems for our society. Thus, ethical considerations in terms of a responsible, safe and trust-worthy human-robot interaction need to be considered soon.

How can we ensure robotic ethical behavior?

How can we design ethical robots?

Can or should robots act in accordance with human morality?

Dropshipping, Fulfilment-by-Amazon, Affiliate Marketing: the rise of the internet and increasing consumer reliance on online retail has given prominence to these and several other novel ecommerce business models. However, thus far, research on the demographics and motivation of founders pursuing these business models is scarce. We are seeking to understand what factors drive certain population groups (e.g., college students, working professionals, etc.) to start businesses using new online retailing models.

The primary aim of this thesis is to investigate how Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-4 can be endowed with long-term memory capabilities. The research will assess the limitations of existing LLM architectures, propose new mechanisms to enable long-term memory, and evaluate their efficacy and potential impact.

Today's dynamic and competitive business environment requires continuous innovation to ensure business success and growth. A key component in unlocking the potential of innovation is the innovation description, which serves as a communication tool to convey the value of an innovation.

This thesis is dedicated to analyzing and understanding the components that must be included in an innovation description to enable a comprehensive assessment of innovation value. A literature review will be conducted to examine how each component contributes to the assessment of innovation value and how it persuades potential investors and decision makers. Subsequently, the challenges of creating innovation descriptions, including potential stumbling blocks, are highlighted and recommendations for overcoming these challenges are formulated. The goal of the paper is to develop a transparent presentation of effective innovation descriptions as a key tool in a company's innovation strategy.

In the age of digitalization, crowdfunding platforms such as Indiegogo have become a venue for promising innovations. The often very marketing-oriented descriptions are striking. But does this creative writing actually have the potential to foster innovation?

A key component in unlocking the potential of innovation is the innovation description. This thesis addresses the question of how innovation descriptions influence the perception of the value of innovations. In a quantitative study, marketing-oriented innovation descriptions are compared with sober and factual styles of innovation description. The aim is to find out which of the two description styles – emotional and creative versus factual and sober – is perceived as more innovative. In addition, we will analyze which psychological components are fundamental for this perception. These findings can provide important impulses for the way innovations are presented on platforms and potentially have implications for the promotion and success of innovations.

Large Language Models have shown a remarkable ability to understand user intents and act on them. By fine-tuning foundation models on voice assistant use-cases, we can gain better control of interaction flows, and enable a larger range of interaction styles. A thesis in this area can focus on a variety of research directions: User Experience Research, Dataset Engineering, and User Interface Design.

Digitalization and COVID-19 led to a major shift on how we actually work and will work in the future. The suggested topics in the attached PDF are intended to shed light on these aspects. The topics cover all exciting areas of HR work of the future: from AI-based recruiting and leadership to digital work opportunities.

Technologies, such as robots, will be an important part of the future working world. In order to reap the benefits of the integration of such technologies, it is important to consider how the interactions with human partners will evolve in several settings.