Elisabeth Reynolds, executive director of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future, speaks with Annie Nova of CNBC about the Task Force’s new report, which lays out recommendations for ensuring Americans are able to secure good jobs in an era of automation. “We’re suggesting that people have access to affordable education and training,” says Reynolds. “I think there’s a real opportunity to help transition people and educate workers without four-year degrees.”
Axios reporter Bryan Walsh writes that a new report by MIT’s Task Force on the Work of the Future makes policy recommendations for ensuring American workers are able to secure good jobs. “If we deploy automation in the same labor market system we have now," says Prof. David Mindell, "we're going to end up with the same results.”
Three years after President L. Rafael Reif delivered an “intellectual call to arms” to examine the impact of technology on jobs, the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future has published its final set of recommendations. “In an extraordinarily comprehensive effort, they included labor market analysis, field studies and policy suggestions for changes in skills-training programs, the tax code, labor laws and minimum-wage rates,” writes Steve Lohr for The New York Times.
Quartz reporter Nicolás Rivero highlights a study co-authored by Prof. David Rand that examines the effectiveness of labeling fake news on social media platforms. “I think most people working in this area agree that if you put a warning label on something, that will make people believe and share it less,” says Rand. “But most stuff doesn’t get labeled, so that’s a major practical limitation of this approach.”
Senior lecturer Edward Golding speaks with Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde, Romaine Bostick and Joe Weisenthal about a new study he co-authored, which finds that Black Americans pay more for their homes.
Axios reporter Erica Pandey writes that a new working paper by MIT researchers explores the potential pitfalls posed by using algorithms to aid the hiring process. "Lots of companies have taken interest in using AI tools in the recruiting process," explains Prof. Danielle Li. "In that world, algorithms stand to have a big impact."
A new study by MIT researchers finds that Black Americans pay more than any other group to own a home, reports Anna Bahney for CNN. "The small differences compounding over the life of the mortgage and during home ownership can add up," explains Senior Lecturer Edward Golding. "Even if it is a few hundred dollars a year here and there, it can amount to another year's salary families would otherwise have."
Prof. Sinan Aral speaks with Kara Miller of GBH’s Innovation Hub about his research examining the impact of social media on everything from business re-openings during the Covid-19 pandemic to politics.
A new study by MIT researchers finds that Black homeowners in America continue to have to pay more to own a home, reports Reuters. The researchers found that “the annual difference of $743 in mortgage interest payments, $550 in mortgage insurance premiums and $390 in property taxes, when invested over 30 years results in lost retirement savings of $67,320 for Black homeowners.”
Writing for Wired, principal research scientist Andrew McAfee argues that human populations and economies have continued to grow, while also identifying ways to reduce their carbon footprints. “To ensure that these greenhouse gas declines continue to spread and accelerate, we should apply the lessons we've learned from previous pollution reduction success. In particular, we should make it expensive to emit carbon,” writes McAfee.
Fast Company reporter Steven Melendez spotlights Minglr, an open-source tool that is aimed at connecting attendees at virtual conferences for brief video conversations. “If you’re in a group like a conference, one thing people might do is contact people they know,” says Prof. Thomas Malone. “Other people could contact people they have heard of but not met.”
The MIT Sloan School of Management was ranked as the top Business Analytics MBA program by U.S. News & World Report, writes Ilana Kowarski.
Forbes contributor Peter High spotlights how a study from researchers at MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) examines the digital savviness of companies and their boards. “We found that of all listed companies in the United States with revenues over a billion, only 24% of their boards were digitally savvy, and their companies had much better performance,” explains Peter Weill, senior research scientist and chairman of CISR.
Prof. Sinan Aral speaks with NPR’s Michael Martin about his new book, “The Hype Machine,” which explores the benefits and downfalls posed by social media. “I've been researching social media for 20 years. I've seen its evolution and also the techno utopianism and dystopianism,” says Aral. “I thought it was appropriate to have a book that asks, 'what can we do to really fix the social media morass we find ourselves in?'”
National Geographic reporters Monique Brouillette and Rebecca Renner spotlight Prof. Sinan Aral’s research exploring why untrue information tends to spread so quickly. “Human attention is drawn to novelty, to things that are new and unexpected,” says Aral. “We gain in status when we share novel information because it looks like we're in the know, or that we have access to inside information.”