Publications

February 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

TimeCredit

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Raymond Kluender and Shai Benjamin Bernstein

TimeCredit is an artificial intelligence (AI) startup that is developing large language models (LLMs) to generate accounting memos. The case follows Ndonga Sagnia, a Gambian Harvard Business School MBA student with an accounting background, as she decides how much... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; AI and Machine Learning; Entrepreneurial Finance; Identity; Technology Industry

February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Bairong and the Promise of Big Data

By: Lauren Cohen, Xiaoyan Zhang and Spencer C.N. Hagist

Bairong CEO Felix Zhang, in launching his credit scoring start-up that incorporates 74,000 variables per individual, found strong initial success. However, the shifting regulatory environment, growing breadth of competitors, difficulties in retaining top talent, and... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Big Data; Artificial Intelligence; Credit Scoring; Finance; Credit; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; China

2024
Working Paper

Old Moats for New Models: Openness, Control, and Competition in Generative AI

By: Pierre Azoulay, Joshua L. Krieger and Abhishek Nagaraj

Drawing insights from the field of innovation economics, we discuss the likely competitive environment shaping generative AI advances. Central to our analysis are the concepts of appropriability—whether firms in the industry are able to control the knowledge generated... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; AI and Machine Learning; Open Source Distribution; Policy

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

July 2024
Article

Chatbots and Mental Health: Insights into the Safety of Generative AI

By: Julian De Freitas, Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp, Zeliha Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni

Chatbots are now able to engage in sophisticated conversations with consumers. Due to the ‘black box’ nature of the algorithms, it is impossible to predict in advance how these conversations will unfold. Behavioral research provides little insight into potential safety... View Details

Keywords: Autonomy; Chatbots; New Technology; Brand Crises; Mental Health; Large Language Model; AI and Machine Learning; Behavior; Well-being; Technological Innovation; Ethics

September 2023
Case

Ada: Cultivating Investors

By: Reza Satchu and Patrick Sanguineti

Mike Murchison, co-founder and CEO of Ada, has an enviable dilemma. Launched in 2016 by Murchison and his co-founder David Hariri, Ada is an AI-native company that aims to revolutionize how businesses approach customer service. The company has already attracted a buzz,... View Details

Keywords: Founder; Fundraising; Business Startups; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry

September 29, 2023
Article

Eliminating Algorithmic Bias Is Just the Beginning of Equitable AI

By: Simon Friis and James Riley

When it comes to artificial intelligence and inequality, algorithmic bias rightly receives a lot of attention. But it’s just one way that AI can lead to inequitable outcomes. To truly create equitable AI, we need to consider three forces through which it might make... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Prejudice and Bias; Equality and Inequality

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

05 Nov 2024
Research & Ideas

AI Can Help Leaders Communicate, But Can't Make Employees Listen

It's an AI-age twist on the classic Turing Test, developed by British computer scientist Alan Turing in 1950 to judge whether machines could exhibit “intelligence.” Called the “Wade Test,” after the CEO of the company the researchers... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Information Technology; Technology

January 2025
Article

Reducing Prejudice with Counter-stereotypical AI

By: Erik Hermann, Julian De Freitas and Stefano Puntoni

Based on a review of relevant literature, we propose that the proliferation of AI with human-like and social features presents an unprecedented opportunity to address the underlying cognitive and affective drivers of prejudice. An approach informed by the psychology of... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; AI and Machine Learning; Interpersonal Communication; Social and Collaborative Networks

June 2021
Article

From Predictions to Prescriptions: A Data-driven Response to COVID-19

By: Dimitris Bertsimas, Léonard Boussioux, Ryan Cory-Wright, Arthur Delarue, Vassilis Digalakis Jr, Alexander Jacquillat, Driss Lahlou Kitane, Galit Lukin, Michael Lingzhi Li, Luca Mingardi, Omid Nohadani, Agni Orfanoudaki, Theodore Papalexopoulos, Ivan Paskov, Jean Pauphilet, Omar Skali Lami, Bartolomeo Stellato, Hamza Tazi Bouardi, Kimberly Villalobos Carballo, Holly Wiberg and Cynthia Zeng

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges worldwide. Strained healthcare providers make difficult decisions on patient triage, treatment and care management on a daily basis. Policy makers have imposed social distancing measures to slow the disease, at... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; AI and Machine Learning; Forecasting and Prediction; Analytics and Data Science

Profile

John Bracaglia

learning will impact a lot of industries," John says. "I want to show my colleagues the kind of impact AI can really have and how it applies to MBA students." In 2019, John took a lead role in organizing and running the... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing/Energy; Tech; CPG

September–October 2024
Article

The Crowdless Future? Generative AI and Creative Problem-Solving

By: Léonard Boussioux, Jacqueline N. Lane, Miaomiao Zhang, Vladimir Jacimovic and Karim R. Lakhani

The rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) open up attractive opportunities for creative problem-solving through human-guided AI partnerships. To explore this potential, we initiated a crowdsourcing challenge focused on sustainable, circular economy... View Details

Keywords: Large Language Models; Generative Ai; Crowdsourcing; AI and Machine Learning; Creativity; Technological Innovation

2025
Working Paper

Global Evidence on Gender Gaps and Generative AI

By: Nicholas G. Otis, Solène Delecourt, Katelynn Cranney and Rembrand Koning

Generative AI has the potential to transform productivity and reduce inequality, but only if adopted broadly. In this paper, we show that recently identified gender gaps in generative AI use are nearly universal. Synthesizing data from 18 studies covering more than... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Technology Adoption; Behavior

Student-Profile

Ta-Wei "David" Huang

management and using causal inference / machine learning tools to solve marketing problems.” It was this motivation that led him to pursue a Ph.D. Initially, David’s familiarity with HBS was limited to the... View Details

16 Nov 2020
Blog Post

Flatiron School: Reflections from Summer 2020

Birchbox, Young Invincibles, Color Camp, Women 2.0 and Casper. WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS FOR THE SUMMER? Rocio Wu (MBA 2020): Learning python and machine learning had always been on... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

Web

Data Tips & Toolkits - Research Computing Services

popular platform provides automatic text captioning of the audio uploaded onto YouTube. Watson speech-to-text API : a machine learning API that can transcribe audio files into text, among other capabilities.... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Scaling Core Earnings Measurement with Large Language Models

By: Matthew Shaffer and Charles CY Wang

We study the application of large language models (LLMs) to the estimation of core earnings, i.e., a firm's persistent profitability from its core business activities. This construct is central to investors' assessments of economic performance and valuations. However,... View Details

Keywords: Large Language Models; AI and Machine Learning; Accounting; Profit; Corporate Disclosure; Analytics and Data Science; Measurement and Metrics

SSRN

September 2023
Case

Super Quantum: Using Artificial Intelligence to Transform Asset Management (A)

By: Feng Zhu and Kerry Herman

Dr. Zhang, CEO of Super Quantum, an AI-driven hedge fund, is considering an investor’s request to withdraw their funds as the markets experience volatility. Should he pull the investor’s funds? View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Volatility; Financial Markets; Investment Funds; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

2025
Working Paper

Lessons from an App Update at Replika AI: Identity Discontinuity in Human-AI Relationships

By: Julian De Freitas, Noah Castelo, Ahmet K. Uğuralp and Zeliha O. Uğuralp

As consumers increasingly interact with AI applications specialized for social relationships, what is the nature and depth of these relationships among actual users, and can company actions influence these dynamics? We find that active users of the US-based AI... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Welfare; Loss; Well-being; Identity; Perception; Relationships

SSRN