AI as Co-Creator: Fostering Social Equity Towards Social Sustainability in Entrepreneurial Development for Women and Minority Entrepreneurs

Joanne Scillitoe (), Deone Zell, Latha Poonamallee and Kene Turner
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Joanne Scillitoe: Center for Social and Technology Entrepreneurship, David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, California State University Northridge, Northridge, Los Angeles, CA 91330, USA
Deone Zell: Center for Social and Technology Entrepreneurship, David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, California State University Northridge, Northridge, Los Angeles, CA 91330, USA
Latha Poonamallee: Parsons School of Design, New School, New York, NY 10011, USA
Kene Turner: Center for Social and Technology Entrepreneurship, David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, California State University Northridge, Northridge, Los Angeles, CA 91330, USA

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-24

Abstract: This paper examines how artificial intelligence (AI) can act as a co-creation partner to foster social equity leading to social sustainability by addressing persistent barriers faced by women and minority entrepreneurs. We develop a theoretical framework integrating social capital theory and the resource-based view to analyze how AI can systematically address resource gaps across structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions while serving as a strategic capability that enables competitive advantage. Modern AI systems including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity represent practical technologies already operational for everyday entrepreneurs through accessible platforms, low-cost subscriptions, and no-code tools enabling workflow automation with minimal technical skill. While prior work has explored how social capital creates competitive advantages, little research explains how AI technologies specifically enhance both social capital development and resource-based competitive advantage simultaneously for ventures of underrepresented entrepreneurs. This study explicitly identifies the entrepreneurial venture as the unit of analysis and articulates five testable propositions on AI’s influence across structural, relational, and cognitive capital, clarifying mechanisms by which AI functions as a technological mediator that democratizes access to both network resources and strategic capabilities for underrepresented founders. Using AI-generated hypotheticals from Los Angeles demonstrating replicable processes with current technologies like retrieval-augmented generation and cloud AI workspaces, we show that AI-enhanced social capital can reduce venture development disparities while generating distinctive advantages for strategically adopting entrepreneurs. The framework requires empirical validation through longitudinal studies and acknowledges dependencies on infrastructure, ecosystem support, and cultural context, ultimately reconceptualizing AI as an active partner, illustrating that equity and competitive excellence are complementary and achievable through deliberate AI-enabled social capital development.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; social equity; women entrepreneurs; minority entrepreneurs; social capital; co-creation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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