A six-month, cross-industry randomized trial shows how generative AI is reshaping work. Listen to this article: The promise of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow theory” is that people do their best work when they can enter a flow state, or stay deeply engaged in a challenging task without constant interruption. Yet the structure of knowledge work […]
Firms built around AI are scaling knowledge work without the knowledge workers. Listen to this article: For several years now the idea that AI will transform organizations has been less a finding than a forecast repeated in keynotes, board decks, and earnings calls with a confidence that outpaced the evidence. The new working paper, “AI-Native […]
When AI summarizes the web instead of sending you to it, the economics of online information quietly unravel. Listen to this article: AI search results like Google’s AI Overview are easy to like. Instead of dodging ads, closing pop-ups, scanning a half-dozen pages, and stitching together an answer yourself, you can often get a speedy […]
New research shows why optimizing content for attention can quietly push it off strategy. Listen to this article: When businesses ask AI to write “on brand,” they’re activating far more than a style guide. Brand voice involves a nuanced set of choices about tone, target audience, and what the organization ultimately wants to stand for. […]
New research proposes a framework to give workers a stake in the AI systems built on their labor. Listen to this article: Data portability has often been presented as a way to reduce the control digital platforms exert through exclusive access to user data. In principle: if Meta, Alphabet, Spotify, or another platform holds your […]
Data-driven insights on the shift from cool tool to global utility Listen to this article: If you look at the headlines about tools like Claude Code and OpenAI Codex, or hear about programmers using LLMs to reach unprecedented levels of efficiency, you might think that everyone is starting to use AI to write computer code, […]
What China’s “diffusion-forward” strategy reveals about technology, production, and who wins in the AI economy Listen to this article: The New York Times recently reported that in Washington, the AI question focuses on whether the government should review powerful models before they are released. But on the other side of the globe, China is asking […]
How generative AI is reshaping the quantity and quality of expert analysis Listen to this article: We have entered an era of information abundance and trust scarcity. Thanks to AI, it’s easier than ever to generate clean, coherent, professional-sounding content, but some tend to assume that it isn’t worth their attention, confidence, or actual decision-making […]
Exploring the hidden cost of human disengagement from AI Listen to this article: We are rapidly entering an AI era defined by the “agentic” shift. These tools now write code, manage inboxes, conduct research, and execute multi-step workflows without a human lifting a finger. But when AI does more, what happens to the humans at […]
What a Landmark AI Study Tells Us About When to Trust, and When Not to Trust, AI Listen to this article: In September 2023, a working paper out of Harvard Business School landed at an unusually consequential moment. Generative AI had been publicly available for less than a year, organizations were scrambling to understand its […]