Hybrid Knowledge Systems: The Role of Generative AI in Organizational Knowledge Creation

The Knowledge-Based View (KBV) emphasizes that knowledge is the primary resource for organizations to generate and sustain competitive advantage. Traditionally, knowledge creation has been seen as a human-centric process driven by social collaboration within organizations. However, the rapid introduction of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) challenges this view by expanding knowledge creation beyond human capabilities. In this paper, we explore how AI disrupts organizational knowledge creation by introducing new modes of knowledge conversion and blurring ontological boundaries between individual, group, and organizational knowledge. To illustrate these changes, we reconceptualize Nonaka's SECI model to integrate AI into the knowledge creation process, proposing a hybrid human-AI knowledge creation model. The hybrid model leverages AI's unique capabilities that enhance knowledge processing, generating multiple knowledge spirals that transcend conventional organizational levels and boundaries. perpetuating more diverse, faster and broader knowledge creation cycles. The model also highlights several factors that influence human-AI interactions that ultimately determine organizational gains from these diverse knowledge creation spirals. In this environment, AI not only augments human knowledge but also revolutionizes knowledge creation, generating unique and inimitable capabilities that support sustained competitive advantage.