BIG.AI@MIT 2024: "A Leading Role for Research in Analyzing the Gains and Harms of GenAI"

Session Lead & Moderator:
Sinan Aral - Director, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy
Panelists:
Susan Athey - Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Sendhil Mullainathan - Professor of Computer Science and Economics, MIT
Daniela Rus - Professor, MIT and Director, MIT CSAIL
Generative AI is a once-in-a-generation disruptive technology that has the potential to transform how work is performed across every industry and function. While its potential is becoming more tangible, the specifics of how Generative AI impacts organizations and roles is rapidly evolving along with the technology, challenging leaders to understand how, where, and when to best leverage investments in Generative AI to drive differentiated outcomes. 65% of executives can’t explain how their AI models make decisions. 78% of organizations use third-party AI tools, which is a concern given that 55% of all AI failures (e.g. hallucinations) come from third-party tools. And like any tool, GenAI and the underlying Large Language Models and associated generative Diffusion Models may generate out of date, biased, incorrect, or inconsistent results. The focus of this session is to bring together the world’s leading researchers in the GenAI space to discuss, debate, and propose the research necessary to understand the causal impact (positive and negative) on organizations, roles, and individuals in the context of the future of work.