MIT Sloan Faculty in the News
Explore media coverage of MIT Sloan faculty research and expert opinions to see how our thought leaders are shaping conversations across business, technology, and society.
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Most Recent MIT Sloan Media Coverage
They laid off thousands of workers because of AI. Now they regret it. 'We need people.'
"Do we need more people? Do we need fewer people? We have no idea. Nobody has a clue," wrote Professor Emeritus Paul Osterman in the forthcoming book "Disposable Workers." He added that companies treated workers as expendable and got rid of them when it was convenient. Osterman expects this trend of precarious work to continue during this period of change. "Artificial intelligence introduces a lot of uncertainty among employers who do not know what they need and what they do not need," he said.
Global experts warn AI could trigger catastrophic harm by 2030
A recent MIT FutureTech report on AI risk drew responses from 272 specialists, including professor Jackson Lu, research scientist Peter Slattery, and principal research scientist Neil Thompson. "These findings are a call to arms for those building and governing AI to make sure the worst outcomes do not occur," said Thompson.
MIT study finds fault with AI prompts, says better ones lead to better retirement advice
A study by associate professor Taha Choukhmane and co-authors found that AI-generated financial advice moves people closer to sound long-term financial behavior, but the benefits are not distributed equally. "Regular people are not writing their prompts the way a finance professor is," said Choukhmane. AI systems tend to produce stronger financial recommendations when users provide richer context about their circumstances, he explained.
Private credit has dodged public scrutiny for too long — and regulators need to step in
Distinguished senior lecturer Robert Pozen wrote: "The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has adopted a process to allow state regulators to challenge individual ratings. It's also developing a due-diligence framework to assess whether private ratings are mapped appropriately to regulatory risk categories. A simpler and more effective solution would be for state insurance regulators to mandate public disclosure of all ratings of private credit, along with explanations on how they were determined."
Research: Employees from lower-class backgrounds negotiate less — and face more backlash
Professor Jackson Lu and co-authors wrote: "By making negotiation rules visible, reducing reliance on self-advocacy, holding evaluators accountable, and pairing empowerment with protection, [senior leaders] can make negotiation a genuine vehicle for mobility rather than a gatekeeper of privilege."
This time could be different for Russia sanctions
Professor Simon Johnson and co-author discussed how high inflation and interest rates are eating away at the foundations of the Russian economy and sapping its growth. By hitting its most important sectors, and its essential source of foreign hard cash, new US legislation would pile enormous pressure on the Kremlin just when it is urgently needed.