On Characteristics and Process Requirements of Artificial Intelligence Projects

For computer scientists around the world, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a new topic. Most people use AI unconsciously in their everyday life, for example when they use their smartphones. Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, AI hit the interest of industry and society. The expectations on AI projects are high, companies hope to reduce costs and increase efficiency by inventing AI solutions in their companies. The aim of this paper was to better understand the characteristics of AI projects as well as the differences to classic software projects. We also wanted to investigate what kind of process model and project management framework is most suitable to successfully lead AI projects. We conducted structured interviews with four AI experts to gain an initial overview. The results provide insights into AI projects and suggest ideas for future research on software engineering for AI projects.