Publications

Article

Pattern Detection in the Activation Space for Identifying Synthesized Content

By: Celia Cintas, Skyler Speakman, Girmaw Abebe Tadesse, Victor Akinwande, Edward McFowland III and Komminist Weldemariam

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have recently achieved unprecedented success in photo-realistic image synthesis from low-dimensional random noise. The ability to synthesize high-quality content at a large scale brings potential risks as the generated samples may... View Details

Keywords: Subset Scanning; Generative Models; Synthetic Content Detection

2022
Working Paper

Rethinking Explainability as a Dialogue: A Practitioner's Perspective

By: Himabindu Lakkaraju, Dylan Slack, Yuxin Chen, Chenhao Tan and Sameer Singh

As practitioners increasingly deploy machine learning models in critical domains such as healthcare, finance, and policy, it becomes vital to ensure that domain experts function effectively alongside these models. Explainability is one way to bridge the gap between... View Details

Keywords: Natural Language Conversations; AI and Machine Learning; Experience and Expertise; Interactive Communication; Business and Stakeholder Relations

2022
Working Paper

TalkToModel: Explaining Machine Learning Models with Interactive Natural Language Conversations

By: Dylan Slack, Satyapriya Krishna, Himabindu Lakkaraju and Sameer Singh

Practitioners increasingly use machine learning (ML) models, yet they have become more complex and harder to understand. To address this issue, researchers have proposed techniques to explain model predictions. However, practitioners struggle to use explainability... View Details

Keywords: Natural Language Conversations; Predictive Models; AI and Machine Learning

December 2021
Teaching Note

Intenseye: Powering Workplace Health and Safety with AI

By: Michael W. Toffel and Youssef Abdel Aal

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 622-037. View Details

December 2021 (Revised February 2025)
Supplement

Intenseye: Powering Workplace Health and Safety with AI – PowerPoint Supplement

By: Michael W. Toffel, Youssef Abdel Aal and Sadika El Hariri

December 2021 (Revised February 2023)
Teaching Note

Value-Based Insurance Design at Onex

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Amitabh Chandra and Amram Migdal

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 921-023. View Details

Column

The Changing Geography of Work: Priorities for Policy Makers

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

The COVID-19 pandemic thrust the issue of how and where we work into the spotlight. The adoption of remote and hybrid work increased exponentially as lockdowns necessitated social distancing. But now, as we enter a new phase of the pandemic, the Geography of Work—where... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Hybrid Work Model; Work-from-anywhere; Employees; Geographic Location; Policy

Article

A Prescriptive Analytics Framework for Optimal Policy Deployment Using Heterogeneous Treatment Effects

By: Edward McFowland III, Sandeep Gangarapu, Ravi Bapna and Tianshu Sun

We define a prescriptive analytics framework that addresses the needs of a constrained decision-maker facing, ex ante, unknown costs and benefits of multiple policy levers. The framework is general in nature and can be deployed in any utility maximizing context, public... View Details

Keywords: Prescriptive Analytics; Heterogeneous Treatment Effects; Optimization; Observed Rank Utility Condition (OUR); Between-treatment Heterogeneity; Machine Learning; Decision Making; Analysis; Mathematical Methods

Article

Adaptive Machine Unlearning

By: Varun Gupta, Christopher Jung, Seth Neel, Aaron Roth, Saeed Sharifi-Malvajerdi and Chris Waites

Data deletion algorithms aim to remove the influence of deleted data points from trained models at a cheaper computational cost than fully retraining those models. However, for sequences of deletions, most prior work in the non-convex setting gives valid guarantees... View Details

Keywords: Machine Learning; AI and Machine Learning

Article

Counterfactual Explanations Can Be Manipulated

By: Dylan Slack, Sophie Hilgard, Himabindu Lakkaraju and Sameer Singh

Counterfactual explanations are useful for both generating recourse and auditing fairness between groups. We seek to understand whether adversaries can manipulate counterfactual explanations in an algorithmic recourse setting: if counterfactual explanations indicate... View Details

Keywords: Machine Learning Models; Counterfactual Explanations

2021
Chapter

Leadership in Times of Upheaval: The Rise of the Empathic Leader

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

In times of upheaval, such as in a crisis, leaders often feel compelled to embody a commanding, confident style of leadership that provides answers, eschews dissent and remains aloof. Similarly, followers may be drawn to leaders who provide ready answers, with... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Finance; Environment; Sustainability; Crisis Management; Leadership Style

Winter 2021
Article

Mobile Internet Usage and Usage-based Pricing

By: Jeffrey Prince and Shane Greenstein

Using data on mobile Internet usage of thousands of individuals, we provide some of the first analyses linking mobile usage to key demographics such as income. We find a reverse-U relationship between mobile Internet usage and income—notably different than the... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Internet Usage; Pricing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Demographics; Income; Price; Strategy

2021
Article

Public Health Risks Arising from Food Supply Chains: Challenges and Opportunities

By: Lu Chen, Donovan Guittieres, Retsef Levi, Elisabeth Paulson, Georgia Perakis, Nicholas Renegar and Stacy Springs

Safe, healthy, and resilient food supply chains are essential to ensuring the livelihood and well-being of humans and societies, as well as local and global economies. However, the ability to provide and sustain access to nutritious and safe food continues to be a... View Details

Keywords: Food Safety; Adulteration; Malnutrition; Supply Chain; Health; Government Administration; Food and Beverage Industry

Article

Reliable Post hoc Explanations: Modeling Uncertainty in Explainability

By: Dylan Slack, Sophie Hilgard, Sameer Singh and Himabindu Lakkaraju

As black box explanations are increasingly being employed to establish model credibility in high stakes settings, it is important to ensure that these explanations are accurate and reliable. However, prior work demonstrates that explanations generated by... View Details

Keywords: Black Box Explanations; Bayesian Modeling; Decision Making; Risk and Uncertainty; Information Technology

December 2021
Article

The Evolutionary Nature of Breakthrough Innovation: An Empirical Investigation of Firm Search Strategies

By: Dominika Kinga Randle and Gary P. Pisano

Breakthrough innovation has been an important topic of study for generations of scholars. Previous research in this domain has focused on exploring the way breakthroughs emerge from cumulative combination and recombination of prior technologies and knowledge components... View Details

Keywords: Breakthrough Innovation; Exploration And Exploitation; Search Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Strategy

November 2021 (Revised May 2025)
Teaching Plan

Responsive Working at PepsiCo UK (A), (B), and (C)

By: Amy C. Edmondson

This teaching plan is designed to be used in conjunction with the case “Responsive Working at PepsiCo UK (A) and (B)” HBS product numbers 621076 and 621077 to help faculty deepen students’ comprehension of business issues and energize classroom discussion. View Details