Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Mit Ide
New MIT researchers expand their AI reach
The IDE explores how people and businesses work, interact, and prosper in an era of profound digital transformation. We are shaping a brighter digital future and leading the discussion on the digital economy. Q&A: Mohsen Bahrami & Joseph Emmens, new researchers at the IDE, are bringing artificial intelligence deeper into their work. Press enter or click to view image in full size Two scholars will be extending their work in artificial intelligence at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE).
The Psychology and Policy of AI and Algorithms
The IDE explores how people and businesses work, interact, and prosper in an era of profound digital transformation. We are shaping a brighter digital future and leading the discussion on the digital economy. Q&A: New MIT IDE researchers Raphaël Raux and Rui Zuo explore cutting-edge technologies through the human experience. Press enter or click to view image in full size Understanding the intricacies of human interaction with artificial intelligence and algorithms is more important than ever.
Study: Generative AI Results Depend on User Prompts as Much as Models
Study: Generative AI Results Depend on User Prompts as Much as Models As generative artificial intelligence systems improve, a natural assumption is that better large language models will lead to better results. But new research from several MIT Sloan affiliates suggests that LLM advances are only part of the story. In a large-scale experiment, researchers found that only half of the performance gains seen after switching to a more AI advanced model came from the model itself.
4 New Studies Dive Into Agentic AI
Over time, artificial intelligence tools are being given more autonomy. Beyond serving as human assistants, they are being programmed to be agents themselves — negotiating contracts, making decisions, exploring legal arguments and so on. This evolution raises important questions about how well AI can perform the kinds of tasks that have historically depended on human judgment. As AI takes over some tasks from people, will it demonstrate the requisite reasoning and decision-making skills?
Gathering Intelligence on Artificial Intelligence
The IDE explores how people and businesses work, interact, and prosper in an era of profound digital transformation. We are shaping a brighter digital future and leading the discussion on the digital economy. Q&A: New MIT researchers Frank Nagle and Dawn He outline the future of cutting-edge studies in AI. Exploring the impact of artificial intelligence is a big, interdisciplinary job.
Will Automation Make Experts an Endangered Species?
The IDE explores how people and businesses work, interact, and prosper in an era of profound digital transformation. We are shaping a brighter digital future and leading the discussion on the digital economy. Does automation raise the value and wages of human workers, or crush them? A new working paper finds it depends on which tasks get automated — and what kind of human expertise is needed to do the work that remains.
How agentic AI could transform enterprise workflows
The IDE explores how people and businesses work, interact, and prosper in an era of profound digital transformation. We are shaping a brighter digital future and leading the discussion on the digital economy. Follow publication Insights from the MIT GenAI Lab By Noga Shachar Schleyer and Chloe Fang The line between human and machine is blurring — and it’s not a question of whether machines can do more, but how far we’re willing to let them go.
What’s Up with Quantum Computing?
The IDE explores how people and businesses work, interact, and prosper in an era of profound digital transformation. We are shaping a brighter digital future and leading the discussion on the digital economy. Follow publication The recently released MIT Quantum Index Report 2025 explores the current state of quantum computing — including the technology’s opportunities and challenges.
Why LLMs Should Become Masters of Philosophy
Is philosophy the secret sauce for next-generation machine learning? MIT researchers say a belief system will guide AI reasoning and align outcomes to the organization’s goals.
GenAI at a Crossroads
A recent MIT conference highlighted Generative AI’s ability to boost productivity, cut costs and spark new ventures. But scaling and serious societal risks are keeping implementations in check. MIT IDE · Follow Published in MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy · 6 min read · -- By Peter Krass Judging from the recent BigAI@MIT conference, AI is at a crossroads. On the one hand, AI progress is undeniable.
Data Ownership and Privacy Protection Spark New Debates
As cookies crumble and the digital data environment shifts dramatically, what new safeguards and models will win out? MIT IDE · Follow Published in MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy · 5 min read · -- By Paula Klein Digital data is at the center of a storm.
Let’s Set the Record Straight on LLM Capabilities
In the rush to adopt AI, engineering achievements such as Large Language Models (LLMs) are too often mistaken for human linguistic competence.
How Much Risk Does AI Pose? MIT Researchers Count the Ways
Many risks associated with AI use — from biased opinions to machine language ‘hallucinations’ that produce incorrect information — are widely known in tech communities. There are also economic risks to human jobs, concerns over privacy and security, and misuse that worry the public. But many other threats are specific to certain programs or to niche applications. Software developers have different concerns than policymakers, environmentalists, or business leaders, for instance.
Tracking Machine Learning Data
Given the explosive growth of AI - and the advent of foundation models, including generative AI, large language models, and chatbots - demand for data keeps increasing. No matter what an organization hopes to achieve, success is impossible without ready access to high-quality data. But as data becomes increasingly critical for business success, how are enterprises adjusting to the increasing importance of data? Where is all the data needed to train AI models going to come from?
Can Tech Rein in Conspiracy Theories, Algorithms?
By Peter Krass The many accomplishments of digital technologies - notably in AI, social media and online platforms - are also raising concerns and sparking new research. In particular, the spread of false conspiracy theories online and the credibility of social media platforms were among the research topics discussed at this year's MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy's (IDE) Annual Conference. Researchers presented ongoing work on several critical issues facing the digital economy.
Good Data = Good GenAI
It may not be flashy, but AI readiness is all about the basics — the format and quality of corporate data — according to a survey of 334 data leaders By Thomas H. Davenport and Priyanka Tiwari Courtesy of Harvard Business Review Many organizations are excited about generative AI, and they are mobilizing to take advantage of it. Boards of directors are having educational workshops and encouraging their companies to act. Senior management teams are thinking about what use cases to develop.
New KPIs Are Smarter Than Ever
AI-enabled algorithms are boosting performance and value at leading-edge organizations, according to a new report Q&A With Michael Schrage “Legacy key performance indicators (KPIs) increasingly fail to deliver the information and insights leaders need to succeed” in their daily business efforts, according to a new report published by the MIT Sloan Management Review (SMR). KPIs fall short in tracking progress, aligning people and processes, prioritizing resources, and advancing accountability.
Six Ways an AI Revolution is Unfolding
Six Ways an AI Revolution is Unfolding “The Coming AI Economic Revolution: Can Artificial Intelligence Reverse the Productivity Slowdown?” was recently published in Foreign Affairs by James Manyika and Michael Spence, two authors I’ve long admired. Manyika is senior VP of research, technology and society at Google, after serving as chairman and director of the McKinsey Global Institute from 2009 to 2022.
When Will Productivity Gains Kick In?
By Irving Wladawsky-Berger "One of the most enduring macroeconomic puzzles of the last several decades is the pervasive slowdown in productivity growth across industrialized nations, despite breakneck advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) and electronics," wrote economists Daron Acemoglu, David Autor, and Christina Patterson in their recent paper Bottlenecks: Sectoral Imbalance and the US Productivity Paradox. Abundance or Exploitation?
It's Still Who You Know That Counts
IDE: What are the highlights and scope of the new geographic research data you used from Meta? How does it build on earlier work? Jahani: The new data, which we've made publicly available, describes the structure of people's social networks on Facebook across the United States and Mexico. For each zip code or county, you can look up the structure of the social networks of the people who live there. This shows what fraction of their social network ties are long ties - ties without mutual contacts.
Creators, Influencers, AI Top MIT Platform Strategy Summit Agenda
By Peter Krass The rise of AI, the huge impact of social media influencers and platform creators, the lingering effects of the pandemic, and the demands of a more sustainable "circular economy," are all forcing platform businesses to rethink their core models and practices. Even in the relatively youthful world of platforms, transformation is constant. The leaders of just a few years ago may not lead their markets today - or tomorrow.
Your Next Social Media Platforms are Already Here
By Paula Klein What do social media users want? "To feel more safe, less exhausted, have a higher quality product experience, really great UI, have something that works fast," according to T2 co-founder Sarah Oh. Oh is part of what she called a "small and mighty team" building a Twitter alternative with the familiar look and feel of a centralized platform.
Who's Winning the Online Misinformation Battle?
While the threat of online misinformation remains serious, the tide seems to be ebbing a bit. The proliferation of fake news peaked in 2016, and since then, growing concern and pushback has kept online misinformation in check. At the recent Social Media Summit@MIT a panel of experts debated how to keep that progress from backsliding.
What Social Media Platforms are Learning About You
There really are new reasons to worry about social media. One is the recent U.S. surgeon general issued report warning that social media presents a "profound risk of harm" to the mental health of children and teens. Confirming many parents' concerns, the report calls attention to "an urgent public health issue" of increased screen time, and provides recommendations for how it should be addressed by families, industry, and governments.
Why Digital Wallets are Critical to the New Economy
Problems with online payment persist, but improvements are unfolding Irving Wladawsky-Berger A few months ago, the Linux Foundation (LF) announced its intent to launch the Open Wallet Foundation (OWF) in early 2023. The OWF aims to develop open source software, key building blocks, and best practices that anyone can use to build multi-platform, interoperable, secure, and privacy-protecting digital wallets that will support a wide variety of applications from identity credential to payments.
Tracking the Metaverse and AR/VR in 2023
By Irving Wladawsky-Berger Everyone in is always searching for the Next Big Thing. So once again, The Economist in A reality check for the metaverse is coming, a recent article in The World Ahead 2023 year-end issue, raises questions about the potential of the metaverse, as I wrote last week. How far will advances go? "The coming year will see big tech firms doubling down on two related, much-hyped possibilities: virtual (VR) and augmented-reality (AR) headsets.
Identity, Not Content, Influences Social Media Behavior
Should the identity of social media users be checked and verified? Will that help stem misinformation online? As the policy conversation on online identification, verification, and blue checks on Twitter heats up - in some cases to curb harmful speech and in some case for profits - understanding the effects of identity cues on opinions and communities will be critcally important, said MIT IDE Director, Sinan Aral.
The Howard Stern of the Business World (or much more)? on Apple Podcasts
Today's guest, Scott Galloway is arguably the most prolific thought leader in the business world today, with millions of views on his viral YouTube and videos on his various social media channels filled with business advice and predictions. He's the bestselling author of Post Corona, The Four, and The Algebra of Happiness. The host of two chart-topping podcasts, The Prof G Show and Pivot with tech journalist, Kara Swisher and a regular face on prime-time TV.
Why the Digital Economy Deserves New Metrics
Economists say that replacing GDP is long overdue By Irving Wladawsky-Berger Several weeks ago I heard a very interesting keynote presentation by Cambridge professor Diane Coyle at the annual workshop of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab: What Don’t We Know About Measuring the Digital Economy? Professor Coyle is also a research associate of the U.K. Economics Statistics Centre of Excellence.
The Downside of High Online Engagement
New study shows that marketers might be losing offline sales when customers get ‘stuck’ online Image: iStock By Sagit Bar-Gill and Shachar Reichman Marketers are spending billions of dollars creating highly engaging websites, reaching for the Holy Grail — online engagement with their brands or products. But, does high online engagement always work? Previous research has found that online engagement increases website efficiency, generates more positive consumer opinions, reviews, and comments[1].
Can We Trust Cybersecurity to the Cloud?
Once a risky option, leaders now look to cloud providers to keep data safe By Irving Wladawsky-Berger Cloud-based technologies and Cloud Service Provides (CSPs) can play a major role in improving the nation’s cybersecurity. Over the years, CSPs have invested billions in cloud security, hired thousands of top cyber experts, and developed an array of new tools and methods.
Artificial Intelligence Gets Real for Big Firms
Siemens, Mastercard, and John Deere are using AI as one more tool for competitive advantage By Beth Stackpole, MIT Sloan As artificial intelligence continues to move into the mainstream, companies are combining AI and big data to build and design better products, react faster to changing market conditions, and protect consumers from fraud.
Five Ways to Rescue Truth on Social Media
MIT Summit panelists remind us that “truth is not the enemy.” By Paula Klein Increasingly, social media is being used to obfuscate the truth by amplifying false ideas faster and farther than traditional media, according to research by Sinan Aral, Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. The truth is under attack.
A New Twist to Cryptocurrencies: Digital Ownership Tokens
Will non-fungible tokens change the value of digital assets? By Irving Wladawsky-Berger The blockchain first came to light in 2008 as the digital ledger for bitcoin transactions. The creator’s original vision was limited to enabling peer-to-peer bitcoin transactions with no need for a bank or government agency to certify the validity of the transactions. But, like the Internet, electricity and other transformative technologies, blockchain soon transcended its original objectives.
The Rise of Human-centered AI
Researchers seek to recognized and address algorithmic Bias By Dylan Walsh, MIT Sloan Companies invested roughly $50 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) systems last year. That figure is expected to more than double, to $110 billion, by 2024. Such an explosion in investment raises a lot of questions, but central among them for MIT Sloan senior lecturer Renée Richardson Gosline is how to recognize and counteract the bias that exists within AI-driven decision-making.
5 Digital Economy Trends to Watch
COVID-19 clearly dominated the world's business concerns last year and will continue to be a primary focus in 2021, too. At the same time, AI, data analytics, algorithm bias, social media, digital experimentation, and fake news are critical topics spilling into the new year as well. Researchers at the READ OUR The future of work starts now. As businesses get back on their feet in 2021, many challenges lie ahead.
Sinan Aral Responds to Social Media’s Latest Role, Turmoil
“Social media’s role in the Capitol insurrection was undeniable.” That’s one of many observations made by MIT IDE Director, Sinan Aral, after the extraordinary events of January 6 when extreme right-wing, Trump supporters stormed the U. S. Capitol. Aral was interviewed by numerous media outlets-including CNBC, Bloomberg, Fortune, and Yahoo! Finance — for his insights as author of The Hype Machine, especially after Twitter and Facebook banned the President from their social media platforms.
13 days — How the US looked within itself and was stunned.
Hard right wingers brandishing shotguns and handguns storm a pivotal meeting of state officials. The mob smash up the place, ram an armoured vehicle into the glass building, and daub graffiti on walls in a 2-hour reckless spree as officials clear the debating chamber to lock themselves away fearing for their lives. No, this isn’t the 6th January 2012.
Free Flow
The economic imperative for restoring immigration and labor movement in the wake of COVID-19 As many western industrial nations drifted towards protectionism if not outright nationalism in the last decade, an already constrictive environment had developed for the free movement of the labor market. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, gave such nations just the hammer they needed to further nail immigration constraints into place.
AI Enabled Kill Webs and the Slippery Slope towards Autonomous Weapons Systems
Laura Nolan is a computer programmer who resigned from Google over Project Maven. She is now a member of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) a founding member of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. #KeepCtrl. Last month, the United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) is meeting to discuss Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), sometimes described as ‘killer robots’.
ROI for Business AI Remains Elusive
For AI projects to go beyond ‘nice-to-have,’ they must better demonstrate their business value, but how? Shutterstock image By Thomas Davenport In the summer of 2020 my colleague Laks Srinivasan and I convened a virtual meeting of chief data and analytics officers (CDAO) at the RoAI Institute to discuss the issue of how best to achieve return on AI.
The Social Network Is the Computer
What does the explosion of social media and the Hype Machine mean for society and our world? By Irving Wladawsky-Berger “Human beings have always been a social species,” writes MIT professor Sinan Aral in the opening paragraph of The Hype Machine, his recently published book.
The Cities Are In Trouble
By The Molesy Message on The Capital I am having trouble comprehending what is happening in this world. There are no political leaders to follow and The Overton window gets smaller every day. I re-posted this photo the other day which feels pretty accurate: source - joerogan I don’t know who made this but I laughed. JUNE 10, 2020 The two-party political system makes me sick and the people using all their energy to win the battle benefits nobody.
Survivor Stories from “The Game Changer” and Other Updates for May
Please read this April 13, 2020, update from the survivors and read their stories. To view everything that’s been released publicly, visit our tracking document. Voices From the Game Changer Released Today Today, Louisa Leontiades has released four women’s stories.
COVID-19 Adds Urgency to Value-Based Healthcare
Will the crisis accelerate information sharing and integration? By Thomas H. Davenport and Randy Bean Over the past decade or more, we’ve been hearing the mantra of “value, not volume” when we speak to healthcare executives. One doesn’t have to look terribly hard for the reasons why payers, providers, and consumers of healthcare in the U.S. would seek more value.
Two Economists See COVID-19 Costs Topping $2 Trillion
Preliminary estimates of the 2020 U.S. GDP impact shows digitization will be a key post-virus business success factor By Christos Makridis and Jonathan Hartley It will be a while before traditional macroeconomic indicators provide meaningful information about the magnitude of the economic slowdown owing to the novel coronavirus. The mitigation measures adopted — a partial economic shutdown and social distancing — will exact a heavy cost on society that is not yet known.
The Future of Work and Education: Three Scenarios
By Irving Wladawsky-Berger “Experts differ widely in their predictions about how technological innovation will change the labor market, but they all see a need for changes in education,” write British professors and Phillip Brown in a recently published article, Rethinking the Race Between Education and Technology. While experts don’t generally agree on much, hey’re pretty much of one mind when it comes to the growing importance of skills and education in our 21st century digital economy.
How Smart is Artificial Intelligence?
A recent article challenges the humanization of AI and machine learning; let’s reconsider comparisons with human abilities Photo credit: Getty Images/Chinnawat Ngamsom By Irving Wladawsky-Berger “We speak of machines that think, learn, and infer.
Erik Brynjolfsson Talks Taxes at the World Economic Forum
The tech sector’s impact on the global economy was the topic of this interview at Davos It was a brief lesson on the complex topic of economics and technology, and where they intersect. The setting was the World Economic Forum’s 2020 meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and the speaker was MIT IDE Director, Erik Brynjolfsson, in an interview with Bloomberg news.
Focusing in on Tomorrow’s Workforce
MIT conference questions how well we are preparing workers for the era of artificial intelligence and automation Daniela Rus, far right, with her panelists. By Rob Matheson | MIT News Office Opening the November 21 AI and the Work of the Future Congress, MIT Professor, Daniela Rus, presented diverging views of how artificial intelligence (AI)will impact jobs worldwide.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Mit
Contact Mit, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack