Prof. Kristin Forbes speaks to Bloomberg’s Daniel Moss about how governments can prepare to restore inflation targets in the event of a prolonged miss and highlights the value of providing a clear timeline. “You don’t want to be responsible for hitting a target each month when a global shock will veer you off course,” says Forbes. “It’s about the direction of inflation, the path.”
Alumni Erin Dawicki MBA ‘24 and Michelle Ewy MBA ‘24 speak to Boston 25 about developing LymeAlert, the first at-home test kit to detect Lyme disease in ticks. “The faster you treat it [Lyme disease], the way easier it is to treat and have complete resolution of symptoms for a lot of people,” says Dawicki. “But the second challenge is the current diagnostics we have miss 64 to 78 percent of early-stage cases.”
MIT researchers have developed a framework to determine what is needed to make fusion energy commercially viable, writes World Nuclear News (WNN). “The parameters in the framework describe engineering features of the fusion power plant such as power density, the efficiency of converting fusion power into an economic product, and the durability of components used in the energy conversion, in addition to costing and market parameters that assess the expenses and returns from invested capital,” explains WNN.
In an article about AI’s impact on the job market, The Guardian’s Varsha Bansal highlights Prof. Paul Osterman’s new book, “Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment.” Bansal writes: “About 35% of the US workforce is already considered easily replaceable, according to his [Osterman’s] research. AI will only exacerbate this, he said. But not all jobs are in the same boat, and neither are their options for adapting, said MIT’s Osterman.”
Ben Armstrong, executive director of the MIT Industrial Performance Center, speaks to The New York Times reporter Jack Ewing about humanoid robots being deployed to work in car factories. “Humanoids are a million-dollar solution to a one-hundred-dollar problem,” says Armstrong. “The prospect of humanoids to change the game in automotive is quite small.”
Prof. Paul Osterman speaks to Forbes’ Courtney Connley-Hampton about his new book “Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment,” and how AI may exacerbate the disposable worker trend. “Your only source of power in the labor market is your human capital, your skill,” says Osterman. “Get as much skill as you can. You may end up having to change jobs and move around, but if you have valuable skills, that protects you.”
Prof. Dennis Whyte and Prof. Andrew Lo have built a framework to mitigate the economic challenges of fusion power, writes Interesting Engineering’s Ameya Paleja. “While there are multiple approaches to building a nuclear fusion facility, Whyte and colleagues believe that at the end of the day, the facility should be in a position to generate more money that has gone in to building and operating it, otherwise it won’t last for long,” writes Paleja.
Associate Prof. Taha Choukhmane speaks to Associated Press reporter Adriana Morga about explores the growing trend of consumers using AI for financial guidance, and his recommendation that AI be used as a tool in combination with other trusted sources. “I would encourage people to use AI to explain and define,” says Choukhmane. “If you’re interested in knowing what the stock market is, what the difference between a mutual fund and an index fund is, using AI to explain these concepts can be very useful because it can empower people to get the most out of these methods.”
Smithsonian Magazine’s Kristen A. Schmitt spotlights LymeAlert, an at-home screening kit to detect Lyme disease in ticks created by alumna Erin Dawicki MBA ‘24. Once we figured out how to do this, it almost felt like a moral obligation,” says Dawicki. “We have the ability to get this out into the world, and it can become a pretty affordable way to try and prevent as many of these cases of long-term Lyme as we can.”
Prof. Jackson Lu speaks to Fast Company’s Sarah Bregel about metacognitive techniques, tuning into one’s thinking and learning process, to use AI more creatively. “Even the most powerful AI won’t boost creativity if employees don’t know how to use it effectively,” says Lu. “Organizations should pair AI deployment with metacognition training to maximize the creative benefits.”
Principal Research Scientist John Liu speaks to Manufacturing Dive’s Nathan Owens about MIT’s Technologist Advanced Manufacturing Program (TechAMP), a 12-month-long certificate program designed to "bring experienced technicians into leadership roles with a focus on advanced manufacturing needs.” Says Liu: "We’re looking at developing this elite workforce who bridges the gap. What we’re trying to do is upskill the technician.”
Bloomberg’s Gautam Mukunda highlights Prof. Scott Stern’s finding that 0.07% of business registrations in the 2010s reached meaningful acquisition within six years, and Prof. Danielle Li and Prof. Lindsey Raymond’s finding that AI technologies increased customer support agent productivity by 15%, to predict AI’s role in the influx of business applications filed in June.
Prof. Tavneet Suri joins NPR’s Robert Smith, host of “Planet Money,” to discuss several economic and business development programs in Kenya and Nigeria, and the lessons they offer for business students and entrepreneurs. “I do think that core to the growth of an economy is this thing we call human capital, which is about the education and the health of your population,” says Suri. “It's the sort of, in quotes, "capital" that a human brings to the table.”
Prof. Catherine Wolfram speaks to Marketplace’s Kristin Schwab about the rise in gas prices during the conflict with Iran.
Fortune reporter Preston Fore highlights Principal Research Scientist Andrew McAfee's warning that companies should not replace entry level jobs with AI. “[I]f you’re pulling back on your entry-level hiring, you are probably sacrificing future opportunities to learn and the skilled people of the future,” says McAfee. “You’re also turning off the spigot of the most enthusiastic power users of AI in your organization.”