Professor Catherine Wolfram said: "We know that Trump would take us out of the Paris agreement, and that would be the last time his administration uttered the word ​'climate.' Losing that global leadership would be one of the greatest losses of a Trump presidency."

In this podcast episode, professor Deborah Ancona and senior lecturer Kate Isaacs explain how some large organizations continually develop new talent by empowering employees to lead in their area of expertise and make choices about the projects to which they contribute.

AI tools help employees get comfortable with using AI, principal research scientist Barbara Wixom said. As such, IT leaders need to see tools such as AI assistants and copilots "as really important mechanisms for building their data democracy. The more their employees and workforce are using these generic tools and becoming more comfortable and creative in using AI, that's actually going to uplift your employee skills and also lead to more innovation happening on the solution side," she said.

While some central bankers call Bitcoin speculative, its supporters argue they are missing the point. "Early Bitcoin adopters are no different from the Rothschilds in banking, the Vanderbilts in railroads, or Gates in software," says research scientist Christian Catalini. For Catalini, Bitcoin's actual utility lies in its network, its resistance to central control and deflationary asset, offering a powerful alternative to fiat currencies and current payment systems. As he explains, "Bitcoin is the basis for a truly open and neutral protocol for money."

In this podcast episode Peter Hirst, senior associate dean, executive education, explains how MIT Sloan works with executives to ensure that they efficiently and effectively acquire the skills and knowledge needed to be effective leaders. (Sponsored)

If you're the Federal Reserve, you want consumers to spend and keep the economy strong, but not spend so much that it drives up inflation again. The sweet spot for consumer spending? There is no simple answer. Because the sweet spot depends on what else is happening in the economy, said professor Jonathan Parker. "Ideally, you just want balanced growth. You want growth in investment and consumption."

A study by professor Kate Kellogg and co-authors found that when it comes to emerging technologies, junior employees may not be the best teachers of their more senior colleagues. Generative AI is advancing so rapidly that young employees do not have the training or experience to coach seniors well, since they themselves lack expert knowledge. The study's results came as a surprise to the authors. "We expected that juniors would be a great source of expertise for senior professionals trying to learn to effectively use generative AI," said Kellogg.

In 2022, 1.9 million Massachusetts resident accounts were impacted by data breaches. So far this year, the numbers are already above the historical average with 1.8 million accounts breached through September. The overall uptick is "a trend around the world," said professor Stuart Madnick. "It's no surprise that Massachusetts is part of the uptick. The bad guys are getting badder faster than the good guys are getting better. You can be the most careful person in the world and there is no way to guarantee they won't break in. Don't assume you are safe."

The world's 20 richest countries are falling short of their stated emission-cutting goals, with only 11 meeting their individual targets. Emission cuts strong enough to limit warming to the 1.5 degree goal are more than technically and economically possible. They just aren't being proposed or done. Mostly the problem is "there's one year less time to cut emissions and avoid climate catastrophe," said professor John Sterman, who models different warming scenarios based on emissions and countries policies. "Catastrophe is a strong word and I don't use it lightly."

MIT Sloan faculty members have been leaders in artificial intelligence for decades. We asked about their new projects and what they see as the most exciting — and concerning — aspects of the AI boom. (Sponsored)

Professor Parag Pathak and co-author wrote: "Boston's school assignment system works in the sense of facilitating integration. However, the costs of the current system are high. The vast sums that now go to cross-neighborhood transportation might be better spent. Some might counter that choice is intrinsically valuable and that neighborhood schools are likely to be more segregated than the schools that many historically disadvantaged families choose today. These undeniable benefits must be weighed, however, against alternative uses of the money that flows to busing."

Lecturer Malia Lazu wrote: "Restorative justice would be a positive next step for TD Bank to help repair the societal harm that has been caused. There are many processes TD Bank can engage in to help rebuild trust in the bank and the financial industry by modeling good behavior by working to repair some harm caused."

Principal research scientist Stephanie L. Woerner and co-author wrote: "In a digital world, no organization can thrive alone, and partnerships with xTechs — nimble small companies — present large companies with powerful opportunities to innovate quickly."

Visiting scholar Michael Schrage and David Kiron, editorial director of MIT Sloan Management Review, wrote: "If leadership teams decide to create them, intelligent choice architectures can empower managers and employees at all levels to act with greater autonomy and insight. The essential executive question is no longer whether predictive and generative AI will take over decision-making but how human expertise and AI will complement each other to cocreate better choices, decisions, and outcomes."