International Journal of Education

Objective To address the educational challenges brought about by the rise of the “One Person Company” (OPC) entrepreneurial paradigm in the era of artificial intelligence, this study explores how to leverage AI tools to empower college students and build their “single-person” entrepreneurial capability system, thereby bridging the “capability gap” between traditional entrepreneurship education and individual entrepreneurial practice. Methods A case study method was adopted, and teaching practice was carried out based on innovation and entrepreneurship courses. Two projects, “Digitization of Paper Archives” (technology-based OPC) and “Theatrical Costume Design” (creative OPC), were selected as typical cases to analyze the application effects of AI tools at various stages of entrepreneurship. Results Case studies demonstrate that AI tools significantly optimize team collaboration models and output processes, constructing a digitally assisted entrepreneurial collaboration model—the “AI Virtual Team”—that leverages multi-tool collaboration based on AI to replace the functions of traditional physical teams, with a single person leading the entire process. This model empowers OPC entrepreneurship. Students generally reported substantial improvements in project conception and implementation efficiency (based on classroom notes and interview summaries). Both projects successfully achieved a business breakthrough from zero to one, with the “Theatrical Costumes” project completing its first design and delivery, and the “Electronic Archives” project initially validating the commercial feasibility of the technical solution. Conclusion AI is a key lever for empowering university students’ OPC entrepreneurship and achieving the goal of “learning by doing.” This study extracts a three-pronged teaching practice path of “toolchain embedding - capability enhancement - teaching transformation,” providing an operable practical framework and theoretical reference for universities to conduct interdisciplinary independent entrepreneurship education adapted to the AI era.

Artificial intelligence; One-person company; Entrepreneurship education; Teaching practice; Empowerment model