Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative

The European Union’s AI Act was originally framed as the world’s first comprehensive attempt to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) through the lens of fundamental rights, human oversight, and trustworthy AI. Increasingly, however, the law is evolving into something else: a form of industrial policy. Increasingly, however, the law is being forced to confront the institutional and economic reali…

In April, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) intervened in a high-profile legal challenge to Colorado’s landmark AI law by Elon Musk through his frontier AI firm, xAI. The case is now shaping up to be an early test of whether states will retain meaningful authority to regulate advanced AI systems—or whether federal officials and courts will increasingly view such efforts as unconstitutional bar…

Executives investing in AI-powered learning often focus on improving the chatbot: better explanations, more accurate answers, smarter prompts. But new research from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School suggests that’s not where the biggest gains come from. The real opportunity isn’t in how AI responds, it’s in how AI guides. Learn the latest from researchers Angel Tsai-Hsuan Chun…

The assumption that humans plus AI will always outperform either alone has become a cornerstone of how organizations are deploying AI today. But what if that assumption is wrong — or at least, far more complicated than we think? In Episode 4 of AI Horizons,  Prasanna "Sonny" Tambe, faculty co-director of Wharton Human AI Research, hosted Gérard Cachon, Fred R. Sullivan Professor of Operations, In…

On April 22, the AI Horizons webinar series from Wharton Human-AI Research (WHAIR) examined why AI agent adoption keeps stalling, and what the research says leaders should do differently. In this episode, Stefano Puntoni, faculty co-director of WHAIR and the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, joined Thomas McKinlay, founder of Science Says, to present the Wharton Bl…

Now in its third year, the Wharton Hack-AI-thon, presented by Expedia Group, brought together some of Penn’s most ambitious builders to tackle real-world challenges at the intersection of artificial intelligence and business. This year’s competition was no exception, marked by rapid prototyping, late-night debates, and a final round full of energy, precision, and creativity. … Read More The post …

At a packed session at SXSW this spring, Wharton Human-AI Research (WHAIR) faculty co-director Kartik Hosanagar and Microsoft chief product officer Aparna Chennapragada offered a candid and complementary set of lessons for builders navigating the fast-moving AI landscape. Their shared thesis: in AI product development, competitive advantage is both harder and easier to achieve than most people as…

On April 16, 2026, Wharton Human-AI Research (WHAIR) continued its AI Horizons webinar series with a conversation on one of the most pressing challenges in business today: how to build organizations that are genuinely creative in an age of AI. Host Kartik Hosanagar, faculty co-director of WHAIR, was joined by Yoram (Jerry) Wind, Lauder Professor Emeritus and professor of marketing at the Wharton …

On April 9, Wharton Human-AI Research (WHAIR) launched their spring 2026 AI Horizons webinar series dedicated to exploring the human side of artificial intelligence. In the first installment, WHAIR faculty co-director Robert (Bob) Meyer sat down with Shiri Melumad, a Wharton marketing professor and leading researcher on how smart technology shapes human psychology and behavior. … Read More The po…

Every year, tens of thousands of AI research papers compete for a spot at the world's top academic conferences and a small group of reviewers has to decide which ones make the cut. New research from the Wharton School points to a simple and overlooked solution: ask the authors themselves to rank their submissions. … Read More The post Why Authors Are Better at Predicting Impact Than Peer Review a…

In March 2026, one of the world’s most advanced adopters of generative AI offered a stark reminder that even the biggest organizations can stumble when deploying AI in production.Amazon’s retail website suffered multiple high-severity outages in a single week, including a six-hour meltdown that blocked checkout, account access, and pricing for millions of customers. … Read More The post Governing…

In February and March of 2026, two major organizations—one a legacy retailer and the other a global consulting powerhouse—faced serious data exposures tied directly to their AI-powered chat systems. These aren’t futuristic hypotheticals; they’re real-world demonstrations that deploying generative AI at scale introduces new risks that go beyond what traditional security practices can address. … Re…

Throughout April, we’re joining the University of Pennsylvania in celebrating Penn AI Month — a month-long, University-wide initiative featuring panels, workshops, lectures, and community events focused on human-centered AI. … Read More The post Penn AI Month 2026 appeared first on Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative .

Executives and operations leaders invest significant effort crafting AI prompts, and a common instinct is to assign the AI a persona: "act like a senior consultant," "respond as a chemistry professor." New research from the Wharton School’s Generative AI Labs tests whether that instinct actually pays off in accuracy. The findings may surprise you. … Read More The post Stop Telling AI Who to Be: W…

AI is changing what employers want — and fast. Discover how the skills economy is reshaping hiring, learning, and career development in the AI era. … Read More The post How AI is Reshaping Skills, Hiring, and Education appeared first on Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative .

The Wharton Operations, Information and Decisions Department of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to work on the conceptualization, design, and empirical study of digital twins of business processes. The scholar will collaborate closely with faculty to develop a rigorous understanding of how real-world organizational process…

New research from Wharton People Analytics faculty director Matthew Bidwell and post-doctoral researcher Beril Yalcinkaya, based on analysis of 197 scholarly articles, reveals why AI investments sit idle, and what separates organizations that generate real returns from those stuck in perpetual pilot mode. … Read More The post Why Your AI Sits Unused appeared first on Wharton AI & Analytics Initia…

On February 6, the Wharton Accountable AI Lab hosted its first-ever Accountable AI Research Conference, bringing together academics, policymakers, and industry leaders to tackle one of the defining questions of the moment: as artificial intelligence reshapes every sector of the economy, who is responsible for making sure it's done right? … Read More The post The Wharton Accountable AI Research Co…

For decades, leadership identification has relied on personality inventories, interviews, and performance history. These tools are valuable, but they often capture who people are, not how they think and adapt under pressure. New research from Elizabeth “Zab” Johnson (Executive Director) and Michael Platt (Faculty Director) of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative (WiN), Korn Ferry, and Lazul.ai, sh…

Weijie Su, an Associate Professor of Statistics and Data Science at the Wharton School and affiliated faculty with the Wharton AI and Analytics Initiative, recently received the 2026 Presidents’ Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS). The award is considered to be one of the highest honors in the field of statistics and recognizes Su for his outstanding contributi…