More News from IWER

Emerging data has led economists to wonder when — or if — AI will offer a return on corporate investments. A 2024 MIT study found a modest 0.5% increase in productivity over the next decade. "I don't think we should belittle 0.5% in 10 years. That's better than zero," study author Institute Professor Daron Acemoglu said. "But it's just disappointing relative to the promises that people in the industry and in tech journalism are making."

In this podcast episode, professor of the practice Zeynep Ton explained the interconnected components of the "good job strategy," such as standardization, empowerment, cross-training, simplification, and the incorporation of slack in schedules.

Bigger refunds could lead to more spending by consumers, which can push prices higher. Professor Jonathan Parker said this extra spending could easily increase inflation. He also said stimulus checks during the 2020–2021 pandemic were linked to rising inflation and were a contributing factor to the price surge later.

MIT Sloan School of Management has topped the FT's 2026 Global MBA Ranking for the first time. The recognition comes at a time of sharpening focus from students on the importance of technology, including artificial intelligence, as they prepare for disruptions in the workplace. Richard Locke, John C Head III Dean of MIT Sloan, said: "We are exploring how we reinvent management education for the 21st century."

AI makes it possible to start a business in 30 minutes, said senior lecturer Paul Cheek. He has developed what he calls an "AI-driven enterprise model" and believes today's entrepreneurs can achieve more with fewer resources than ever before.

"We are seeing an addition, not a transition," said professor Yasheng Huang. "China is developing alternative energy sources and fossil fuel energy sources simultaneously. In terms of its global CO2 footprint, China emits twice as much as Europe and the United States. I don't think we are witnessing a transition."

"Removing risk every time the market becomes more concentrated would have been very detrimental (to returns) historically. There is a big cost in terms of the opportunity to miss out on the gains," said senior lecturer Mark Kritzman.

Professor Andrew W. Lo argues that today's AI chatbots are fundamentally unsuited to serve as financial advisers. In his view, they resemble "digital sociopaths," fluent and convincing, yet lacking empathy and moral judgment. Even so, Lo believes large language models could eventually become valuable tools — particularly for small investors with limited experience.

Professor of the practice Rama Ramakrishnan wrote: "Many executives are aware of agentic AI coding assistants like Claude Code but assume that these tools are relevant only to software developers. This assumption is rapidly being proved wrong. It turns out that the features that make AI coding tools useful for programmers can be equally valuable for knowledge work that involves no programming whatsoever."

According to research from the World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity, the healthcare sector faces some of the most costly cyber incidents across all industries, with average breaches reaching $7.42m. Authors Michael Siegel, director of Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan, and research affiliate Sander Zeijlemaker said the research examines how emerging technology could strengthen defences against mounting threats.