Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found “that investors who use OpenAI’s GPT-4o to summarize earnings calls realize higher returns than those who don’t,” reports Kyle Wiggers for TechCrunch. “The researchers recruited investors and had GPT-4o give them AI summaries aligned with their investing expertise,” explains Wiggers. “Sophisticated investors got more technical AI-generated notes, while novices got simpler ones.”
Sloan research fellow Michael Schrage speaks with Fortune reporter Sheryl Estrada about the impact of AI on CFO roles. “The ongoing ‘Compound AI’ revolution, which involves approaching AI tasks by combining multiple interacting components, will increasingly transform the CFO role into that of an AI-powered chief capital officer (CCO),” says Schrage. “This is an analytics-driven shift that isn’t optional but imperative for enterprise growth.”
Alumnus Charles Handy, a “management guru” whose work “favored counseling over consulting for leaders,” has died at the age of 92, reports Andrew Hill for the Financial Times. Handy’s “many insights into organizations, offered in public lectures and a series of books and articles, were practical, prescient and often provocative,” writes Hill.
Alumnus Charles Handy – a "writer, social philosopher and management theorist” – has died at age 92, reports Glenn Rifkin for The New York Times. Handy, “presciently imagined a brave new corporate world where employees worked remotely, jobs were outsourced and workers had ‘portfolio careers,’ working for themselves and contracting their skills to companies, explains Rifkin.
Prof. Daron Acemoglu, one of the recipients of the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics, speaks with NPR Planet Money hosts Jeff Guo and Greg Rosalsky about the academic inspirations that led to his award-winning research studying the role of institutions in shaping economies. “In 1980, as I was in middle school, just the beginning of my seventh grade, Turkey suffered a big military coup,” explains Acemoglu. “There were soldiers everywhere, including in our school. Turkey was definitely not a democratic country at the time, and it was also suffering via a series of economic problems. I got interested in exactly these sets of issues.”
Writing for Forbes, Senior Lecturer Guadalupe Hayes-Mota SB '08, MS '16, MBA '16 shares insight into how entrepreneurs can use AI to build successful startups. AI “can be a strategic advantage when implemented wisely and used as a tool to support, rather than replace, the human touch,” writes Hayes-Mota.
Prof. Arnold Barnett speaks with Bloomberg reporter Charley Locke about the increased safety of air travel. “These events we fear have become extraordinarily rare,” says Barnett. “Of course these events are unnerving, but generally, as soon as they happen, the pilots know what to do and bring the plane back safely.”
Prof. Daron Acemoglu and Prof. Simon Johnson, recipients of the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics, join Boston Public Radio to discuss their research examining the role of institutions in creating shared prosperity. “For the longer-term health of the U.S. economy,” says Acemoglu, “there’s probably nothing more important than its institutions. If any president, any politician, any party damages those institutions, that’s the first thing we should focus on.” Johnson adds: “Democracy has to deliver on shared prosperity. Otherwise people get very annoyed and they question the system.”
Forbes contributor Michael T. Nietzel spotlights the newest cohort of Rhodes Scholars, which includes Yiming Chen '24, Wilhem Hector, Anushka Nair, and David Oluigbo from MIT. Nietzel notes that Oluigbo has “published numerous peer-reviewed articles and conducts research on applying artificial intelligence to complex medical problems and systemic healthcare challenges.”
Yiming Chen '24, Wilhem Hector, Anushka Nair, and David Oluigbo have been named 2025 Rhodes Scholars, report Brian P. D. Hannon and John Hanna for the Associated Press. Undergraduate student David Oluigbo, one of the four honorees, has “volunteered at a brain research institute and the National Institutes of Health, researching artificial intelligence in health care while also serving as an emergency medical technician,” write Hannon and Hanna.
Financial Times reporter Seb Murray highlights a new paper by Prof. Roberto Rigobon and Research Scientist Florian Berg that explores why different ESG ratings can paint different pictures of the same company, finding that “measurement differences between rating agencies are the main source of divergence.” Murray notes that “by exposing these inconsistencies, the research highlights the need for standardization, noting that regulators could help by harmonizing ESG disclosure practices. That would make ratings more reliable and useful for decision makers.”
Research Scientist Nick van der Meulen speaks with Financial Times reporter Bethan Staton about how automation could be used to help employers plug the skills gap. “You can give people insight into how their skills stack up . . . you can say this is the level you need to be for a specific role, and this is how you can get there,” says van der Meulen. “You cannot do that over 80 skills through active testing, it would be too costly.”
Samara Oster MBA '22 has founded Meli, a company that has crafted a gluten-free beer made with organic quinoa, reports Ann Trieger Kurland for The Boston Globe. “With 4.4 percent alcohol, typical of light beers, it’s produced merely with water, high-quality organic quinoa, hops, and yeast,” explains Kurland.
Postdoctoral associate Peter Slattery speaks with Forbes reporter Tor Constantino about the importance of developing new technologies to easily distinguish AI generated content. “I think we need to be very careful to ensure that watermarks are robust against tampering and that we do not have scenarios where they can be faked,” explains Slattery. “The ability to fake watermarks could make things worse than having no watermarks as it would give the illusion of credibility.”
Alumna Jessica Galica speaks with Boston Globe reporter Kara Baskin about women in the workforce, and how to create better work-life balance while also pursuing meaningful work. “In 2024, power is the freedom and flexibility to make choices that you want,” says Galica. “I do see women choosing to pause and choosing to downshift as a form of power — because they’re actively and intentionally making that choice. This is a way to exhibit that power, and to go after what you want.”