Exploring how social networks can influence our lives in business, health, governance, and technology adoption and diffusion
International AI Safety Report
Authenticated Delegation and Authorized AI Agents
Tobin South, Samuele Marro, Thomas Hardjono, Robert Mahari, Cedric Deslandes Whitney, Dazza Greenwood, Alan Chan, Alex Pentland. "Authenticated Delegation and Authorized AI Agents." January 16, 2025.
The Digitalist Papers—Introduction: Artificial Intelligence and Democracy in America
Brynjolfsson, Erik, Alex Pentland, Nathan Persily, Condoleeza Rice, and Angela Aristidou. “Introduction: Artificial Intelligence and Democracy in America.” In The Digitalist Papers. Stanford, California: Stanford Digital Economy Lab, 2024. https://www.digitalistpapers.com/.
The Digitalist Papers—Rediscovering the Pleasures of Pluralism: The Potential of Digitally Mediated Civic Participation
Tsai, Lily, and Alex Pentland. “Rediscovering the Pleasures of Pluralism: The Potential of Digitally Mediated Civic Participation.” In The Digitalist Papers. Stanford, California: Stanford Digital Economy Lab, 2024. https://www.digitalistpapers.com/.
A large-scale audit of dataset licensing and attribution in AI
Longpre, S., Mahari, R., Chen, A. et al. A large-scale audit of dataset licensing and attribution in AI. Nat Mach Intell 6, 975–987 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-024-00878-8
Leveraging Large Language Models for Learning Complex Legal Concepts through Storytelling
Hang Jiang, Xiajie Zhang, Robert Mahari, Daniel Kessler, Eric Ma, Tal August, Irene Li, Alex Pentland, Yoon Kim, Deb Roy, and Jad Kabbara. 2024. Leveraging Large Language Models for Learning Complex Legal Concepts through Storytelling. In Proceedings of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers), pages 7194–7219, Bangkok, Thailand.
A Safe Harbor for AI Evaluation and Red Teaming
Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI), arXiv:2403.04893 [cs.AI] (or arXiv:2403.04893v1 [cs.AI] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2403.04893 | Shayne Longpre* 1 Sayash Kapoor** 2 Kevin Klyman** 3 Ashwin Ramaswami 4 Rishi Bommasani 3 Borhane Blili-Hamelin 5 Yangsibo Huang 2 Aviya Skowron 6 Zheng-Xin Yong 7 Suhas Kotha 8 Yi Zeng 9 Weiyan Shi 10 Xianjun Yang 11 Reid Southen Alexander Robey
Labeling AI-Generated Content: Promises, Perils, and Future Directions
Prioritizing Early Disease Intervention
Caicedo, H.H., Darrow, J.J., Caicedo, J.C. et al. Prioritizing Early Disease Intervention. Ther Innov Regul Sci 57, 1148–1152 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43441-023-00569-3
Flexible social inference facilitates targeted social learning when rewards are not observable
Hawkins, R.D., Berdahl, A.M., Pentland, A.‘. et al. Flexible social inference facilitates targeted social learning when rewards are not observable. Nat Hum Behav (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01682-x
Implications of COVID-19 vaccination heterogeneity in mobility networks
Yuan, Y., Jahani, E., Zhao, S. et al. Implications of COVID-19 vaccination heterogeneity in mobility networks. Commun Phys 6, 206 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-023-01325-7
Gaka-chu: a self-employed autonomous robot artist
E. C. Ferrer, I. Berman, A. Kapitonov, V. Manaenko, M. Chernyaev and P. Tarasov, "Gaka-Chu: A Self-Employed Autonomous Robot Artist," 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), London, United Kingdom, 2023, pp. 11583-11589, doi: 10.1109/ICRA48891.2023.10160866.
Harnessing digital federation platforms and data cooperatives to empower SMEs and local small communities
Bühler, M. et al., 2023. Harnessing Digital Federation Platforms and Data Cooperatives to Empower SMEs and Local Small Communities, OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION. India.
Predicting merchant future performance using privacy-safe network-based features
Bahrami, Mohsen, et al. "Predicting merchant future performance using privacy-safe network-based features." Scientific Reports 13.1 (2023): 10073.
Art and the science of generative AI
Epstein, Hertzmann, et al. "Art and the science of generative AI." Science 380.6650 (2023): 1110-1111.
The dynamics of attention in digital ecosystems
Epstein, Ziv. The dynamics of attention in digital ecosystems. Diss. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019.
Why voters who value democracy participate in democratic backsliding
Braley, A., Lenz, G.S., Adjodah, D. et al. Why voters who value democracy participate in democratic backsliding. Nat Hum Behav (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01594-w
Behavioral changes during the COVID-19 pandemic decreased income diversity of urban encounters
Yabe, T., Bueno, B.G.B., Dong, X. et al. Behavioral changes during the COVID-19 pandemic decreased income diversity of urban encounters. Nat Commun 14, 2310 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37913-y
Trash to Treasure: Using text-to-image models to inform the design of physical artefacts
Smith, A., Schroeder, H., Epstein, Z., Cook, M., Colton, S., & Lippman, A. (2023). Trash to Treasure: Using text-to-image models to inform the design of physical artefacts.
Yourfeed: Towards open science and interoperable systems for social media
Epstein Z and Hause L. Yourfeed: Towards open science and interoperable systems for social media. arXiv.
Quantifying the importance and location of SARS-CoV-2 transmission events in large metropolitan areas
Aleta, Alberto, et al. "Quantifying the importance and location of SARS-CoV-2 transmission events in large metropolitan areas." PNAS, Vol. 119 | No. 26. June 13, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.211218211
Social Influence Leads to the Formation of Diverse Local Trends
Epstein, Ziv, et al. "Social influence leads to the formation of diverse local trends." Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5.CSCW2 (2021): 1-18.
Building the New Economy
Pentland, Alex, Alexander Lipton, and Thomas Hardjono. "Building the New Economy." MIT Press.
Following Leaders in Byzantine Multirobot Systems by Using Blockchain Technology
E. C. Ferrer, E. Jiménez, J. L. Lopez-Presa and J. Martín-Rueda, "Following Leaders in Byzantine Multirobot Systems by Using Blockchain Technology," in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, doi: 10.1109/TRO.2021.3104243.
Mobility patterns are associated with experienced income segregation in large US cities
Moro, E., Calacci, D., Dong, X. et al. Mobility patterns are associated with experienced income segregation in large US cities. Nat Commun 12, 4633 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24899-8
Secure and secret cooperation in robot swarms
E. C. Ferrer, T. Hardjono, A. S. Pentland, M. Dorigo, Secure and secret cooperation in robot swarms. Sci. Robot. 6, eabf1538 (2021).
Accuracy-Risk Trade-Off Due to Social Learning in Crowd-Sourced Financial Predictions
Adjodah, Dhaval, et al. "Accuracy-Risk Trade-Off Due to Social Learning in Crowd-Sourced Financial Predictions." Entropy 23.7 (2021): 801.
Association between COVID-19 Outcomes and Mask Mandates, Adherence, and Attitudes
D. Adjodah, et al (2021) Association between COVID-19 Outcomes and Mask Mandates, Adherence, and Attitudes, PLOS ONE, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252315
Universal resilience patterns in labor markets
E. Moro, et al (2021) Universal resilience patterns in labor markets, Nature Communications, 12(1972), DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22086-3
A Neural-Symbolic Approach for User Mental Modeling: A Step Towards Building Exchangeable Identities
H. Rahnama, M. Alirezaie, and A. Pentland (2021) A Neural-Symbolic Approach for User Mental Modeling: A Step Towards Building Exchangeable Identities, AAAI 2021 Spring Symposium on Combining Machine Learning and Knowledge Engineering
Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online
Pennycook, G., Epstein, Z., Mosleh, M. et al. Shifting attention to accuracy can reduce misinformation online. Nature (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03344-2
COVID-19 policy analysis: labour structure dictates lockdown mobility behaviour
Heroy Samuel, Loaiza Isabella, Pentland Alex and O’Clery Neave 2021COVID-19 policy analysis: labour structure dictates lockdown mobility behaviourJ. R. Soc. Interface.182020103520201035 http://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2020.1035
Computational social science: Obstacles and opportunities
D. M. J. Lazer, A. Pentland, et al (2020). Computational social science: Obstacles and opportunities, Science, 369 (6507), pp. 1060-1062, DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz8170
Kernel Methods for Cooperative Contextual Bandits
Abhimanyu Dubey and Alex Pentland. Kernel methods for cooperative contextual bandits. International Conference on Machine Learning, 2020.
Robust Algorithms for Multiagent Bandits with Heavy Tails
Abhimanyu Dubey and Alex Pentland. Robust algorithms for multiagent bandits with heavy tails. International Conference on Machine Learning, 2020.
Differentially-Private Federated Linear Bandits
Dubey, A., & Pentland, A. (2020). Differentially-Private Federated Linear Bandits. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 33.
Adaptive social networks promote the wisdom of crowds
Almaatouq, Abdullah, Alejandro Noriega-Campero, Abdulrahman Alotaibi, P. M. Krafft, Mehdi Moussaid, and Alex Pentland. "Adaptive social networks promote the wisdom of crowds." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, May 2020, 201917687; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1917687117.
Collective Behavior over Social Networks with Data-driven and Machine Learning Models
Leng, Yan. Collective Behavior over Social Networks with Data-driven and Machine Learning Models. Diss. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020.
Private and Byzantine-Proof Cooperative Decision-Making
Abhimanyu Dubey and Alex Pentland. Private and byzantine-proof cooperative decision-making. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems, pages 357–365, 2020.
Mobile phone data for informing public health actions across the COVID-19 pandemic life cycle
N. Oliver, et al.(2020) Mobile phone data for informing public health actions across the COVID-19 pandemic life cycle, Science Advances, pp.1-10. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc0764
Will the crowd game the algorithm? Using layperson judgments to combat misinformation on social media by downranking distrusted sources
Epstein, Ziv, Gordon Pennycook, and David Rand. "Will the crowd game the algorithm? Using layperson judgments to combat misinformation on social media by downranking distrusted sources." (2019).
Measuring the predictability of life outcomes with a scientific mass collaboration
M. Salganik, et al (2020) Measuring the predictability of life outcomes with a scientific mass collaboration, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 (15), pp. 8398-8403, DOI:10.1073/pnas.1915006117
Network Dynamics of a Financial Ecosystem
Somin, S., Altshuler, Y., Gordon, G., Pentland, A., Shmueli, E. (2020).Network Dynamics of a Financial Ecosystem. Scientific Reports 10, 4587, pp.1-10.
Human and Artificial Intelligence in Decision Systems for Social Development
Noriega Campero, A. (2019). Human and Artificial Intelligence in Decision Systems for Social Development (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Founders’ Dynamics – Interpersonal Relationships and Between-Team Interaction in Early Startups
The Tradeoff Between the Utility and Risk of Location Data and Implications for Public Good
Calacci, Dan, Alex Berke, Kent Larson, Sandy Pentland. "The tradeoff between the utility and risk of location data and implications for public good." Presented at the Oxford & London School of Economics Connected Life conference. (2019). https://arxiv.org/abs/1905.09350
Machine behaviour
Rahwan, Iyad, Manuel Cebrian, Nick Obradovich, Josh Bongard, Jean-François Bonnefon, Cynthia Breazeal, Jacob W. Crandall, et al. “Machine Behaviour.” Nature 568, no. 7753 (April 2019): 477. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1138-y.
Editorial: Proceedings of the First Symposium on Blockchain and Robotics, MIT Media Lab, December 5th 2018
Castelló Ferrer, E., Hardjono, T., & Pentland, A. (2019). Editorial: Proceedings of the First Symposium on Blockchain and Robotics, MIT Media Lab, 5 December 2018. Ledger, 4. doi:https://doi.org/10.5195/ledger.2019.179
Robotic Services for New Paradigm Smart Cities Based on Decentralized Technologies
Kapitonov, A., Lonshakov, S., Berman, I., Castelló Ferrer, E., Bonsignorio, F., Bulatov, V., & Svistov, A. (2019). Robotic Services for New Paradigm Smart Cities Based on Decentralized Technologies. Ledger, 4. doi:https://doi.org/10.5195/ledger.2019.177
Grex: A Decentralized Hive Mind
Khawalid, A., Acristinii, D., van Toor, H., & Castelló Ferrer, E. (2019). Grex: A Decentralized Hive Mind. Ledger, 4. doi:https://doi.org/10.5195/ledger.2019.176
GINA: Group Gender Identification Using Privacy-Sensitive Audio Data
An open-source sensor platform for analysis of group dynamics
An interpretable approach for social network formation among heterogeneous agents
Yuan, Yuan, Ahmad Alabdulkareem, and Alex Pentland. "An interpretable approach for social network formation among heterogeneous agents." Nature Communications 9.1 (2018): 4704.
Urban Swarms: A new approach for autonomous waste management
A. L. Alfeo et al., "Urban Swarms: A new approach for autonomous waste management," 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Montreal, QC, Canada, 2019, pp. 4233-4240.
Social Capital Accounting
T. Nishikata, T. Hardjono and A. Pentland, Social Capital Accounting, October 2018.
Active Fairness in Algorithmic Decision Making
Noriega-Campero, A., Bakker, M., Garcia-Bulle, B., & Pentland, A. (2018). Active Fairness in Algorithmic Decision Making. arXiv preprint arXiv:1810.00031.
Patterns of interaction predict social role in online learning
Sun, Huaiyi Cici, Dan Calacci, and Alex Sandy Pentland. "Patterns of Interaction Predict Social Role in Online Learning."
Managing Byzantine Robots via Blockchain Technology in a Swarm Robotics Collective Decision Making Scenario
Volker Strobel, Eduardo Castelló Ferrer, and Marco Dorigo. 2018. Managing Byzantine Robots via Blockchain Technology in a Swarm Robotics Collective Decision Making Scenario. In Proc. of the 17th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2018), Stockholm, Sweden, July 10–15, 2018, IFAAMAS
The Online Voice of Health Consumers in China: A Text Mining Approach to Online Doctor Reviews
Hao H, Zhang K. The Voice of Chinese Health Consumers: A Text Mining Approach to Web-Based Physician Reviews. J Med Internet Res 2016;18(5):e108. URL: https://www.jmir.org/2016/5/e108. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.4430
eTELEMED
Murata, Y. AlSalamah, S. A. AlSalamah, H. A. Quero, G. Gheorghiu, B. Ossebaard, H. C. (Eds.). (2018). The Tenth International Conference on eHealth, Telemedicine, and Social Medicine (eTELEMED). Rome, Italy. IARIA XPS Press.
Quantifying the Impact of Social Influence on the Information Technology Adoption Process by Physicians: A Hierarchical Bayesian Learning
H Hao, R Padman, B Sun, R Telang. Information Systems Research, 2018, 29(1), pp. 25–41. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2017.0746
Generation of visually aesthetic and detailed 3D models of historical cities by using laser scanning and digital photogrammetry
Balsa-Barreiro, José and Dieter Fritsch. 2018. Generation of visually aesthetic and detailed 3D models of historical cities by using laser scanning and digital photogrammetry. Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 8: 57-64.
RoboChain: A Secure Data-Sharing Framework for Human-Robot Interaction
Eduardo Castello Ferrer, Ognjen Rudovic, Thomas Hardjono, Alex Pentland, “RoboChain: A Secure Data-Sharing Framework for Human-Robot Interaction” eTELEMED 2018.