Mid Sweden University

This study explores the perceptions ofmaster’s program students in Industrial Engineering andManagement (IEM) at Umeå University, Sweden,concerning the current and future impact of artificialintelligence (AI) on their discipline. Employing a descriptive,cross-sectional survey design, we collected quantitative datafrom participants asked to assess AI’s influence on decisionmaking, human-computer interactions, and informationmanagement, among other areas. While ordinal regressionanalysis revealed no significant correlation between thestudent’s academic year and their survey responses, aWilcoxon signed-rank test indicated a statistically significantbelief that AI’s impact on all surveyed areas would intensifywithin the next decade. Our findings suggest a need forengineering education to evolve to adequately equip futureprofessionals for the expanding influence of AI in IEM.Furthermore, the results add to the ongoing discussion ofAI’s role in engineering education and the broaderindustrial engineering and management field.