Technology companies are testing anti-misinformation accuracy prompts developed by an MIT research team
The spread of inaccuracies on social media — including political fake news, and misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines — has led to a plethora of problems in areas as disparate as politics and public health. To combat the spread of false and misleading information, MIT Sloan School Professor David Rand and his colleagues have been developing effective interventions that technology companies can use to combat misinformation online.
A study just published in The Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review by Rand and other researchers at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Political Science Department and Media Lab, as well as the University…
Human-centered AI starts with recognizing current problems— especially, profits over people
By Paula Klein
The human design of platforms and the algorithms that fuel them are directly linked to social media’s impact on society. Panelists at the recent MIT Social Media Summit discussed ways to humanize the design process and to more consciously think about the data used to run the algorithms. They also weighed the overarching dangers that result without this type of thinking.
“We need to consider that these algorithms relate to myriad crises and outcomes in our society, including bias, racism, polarization, amplification of hatred, and violence,” said moderator, and IDE Director, Sinan Aral, at the April 22…
In the face of automation, upskilling alone won’t create good jobs and equality — a multi-pronged overhaul of work is needed
By Irving Wladawsky-Berger
For years, businesses have struggled to find the skilled workers they need to keep up with fast changing technologies and markets. The need is even greater today.
Wide-scale upskilling — as well as educational and policy reforms — are urgently needed to address the inadequacies of our current economic structures, in particular, the growing mismatch between people’s current skills and those needed for future jobs.
That’s the conclusion of several recent studies and initiatives examining the future of work and labor markets. Upskilling for Share Prosperity, a report published in January by the World Economic Forum (WEF)…
Clinical research firms illustrate how dramatically businesses are changing — and how AI can ease the way.
By Thomas H. Davenport and Randy Bean
One of the great challenges we have seen businesses face in recent years is how they approach data and analytics (and now artificial intelligence) when their industries are undergoing major transformation.
It’s hard enough to create a data-driven culture, compete on analytics, develop data-driven products and services, and so forth under normal business conditions, as we noted in our March column about the newest NewVantage Partners survey on big data and AI. …
MIT Summit panelists remind us that “truth is not the enemy.”
By Paula Klein
The truth is under attack. 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.
Moderating a panel discussion on Rescuing Truth, at the MIT Social Media Summit on April 22, Aral said that targeting and personalizing news feeds make it difficult to uncover the source of false news online and for consumers to discern fact from fiction. Platforms and their advertisers reap the financial rewards of this online activity. …
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.
Over the years, blockchain technologies have evolved along two major lines. One continues to focus on blockchain as the underlying platform for bitcoin, as well as a wide variety of cryptoassets, such as digital tokens and cryptocurrencies. The other focuses…
Concerns grow about the platforms that dominate online speech
Social media has struck many nerves. Once an online extension of dating sites, friendly chats, database searches, and public relations campaigns, it has matured into a creature with far-reaching tentacles.
Our homes, our workplaces, and our society are now connected online in unprecedented–and some say, dangerous — ways. MIT IDE Director, Sinan Aral, has written extensively about the huge impact of social media in his book, The Hype Machine. In a recent interview he noted that “we’re witnessing, in real time, society grappling with the emergence of social media as a very powerful force.”
Cities with strong job market connectivity are more economically resilient, study finds
By Jesse DeLaughter, Sociotechnical Systems Research Center, for MIT News
What makes urban labor markets more resilient? This is the question at the heart of a new study, published in Nature Communications by members of MIT’s Connection Science Group.
Economists, policymakers, city planners, and companies have a strong interest in determining what factors contribute to healthy job markets, including what factors can help promote faster recovery after a shock, such as a major recession or the current Covid-19 pandemic. Traditional modeling approaches in this realm have treated workers as narrowly linked to specific jobs. In the real world, however, jobs…
On-demand jobs will continue to grow in the post-pandemic economy — will wages and benefits rise, too?
By Paula Klein
The inequities faced by on-demand workers compared to full-time employees are familiar although recent legal challenges have met with mixed results. Uber drivers in the U.K. successfully petitioned the courts to count 70,000 of them as full-time employees so they can gain important health benefits and wages. In California, on the other hand, ride-sharing companies — Uber and Lyft — prevailed over workers in similar disputes. Around the globe, fair compensation for online contract workers is in the spotlight.
Behind the scenes is a less-known digital economy worker. In 2019 Siddharth Suri, Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft…
What does it mean in 2021 to rescue the truth or to humanize digital design? Why are free speech and antitrust heated issues once again?
In fact, new conversations, debates, and developments in all of these critical areas are not only timely, but essential in today’s digital world. On April 22 the MIT IDE Social Media Summit aims to spark dialogs that will lead to more promising outcomes.
“Social media has become a potent global force and it’s the job of business, public-sector and academic leaders to understand and interpret its complexity,” said MIT IDE Director, Sinan Aral, who will…
MIT IDE
Addressing one of the most critical issues of our time: the impact of digital technology on businesses, the economy, and society.
