Wharton AI & Analytics News

Why Better AI Tutors Aren’t About Better Answers

Headshots of two individuals against a blue gradient background with circular patterns.

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 Chung, doctoral candidate in Wharton’s Operations, Information and Decisions (OID) department, Botong Zhang, software engineer with Amazon Web Services, Ling-Chieh Kung, associate professor with National Taiwan University’s College of Management, and Hamsa Bastani and Osbert Bastani, associate professors in OID.…Read More

Why Adding a Human Doesn’t Automatically Make AI Better

Headshots of three people against a blue background with circular patterns.

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, Information, and Decisions at the Wharton School, and Alex Moehring, assistant professor at Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business, to examine the real-world friction points in human-AI collaboration. Drawing on empirical research and economic theory, the conversation challenged some of the most widely held beliefs about how humans and AI work together, and offered a more grounded way forward.…Read More

The Real Barrier to AI Agent Adoption Isn’t Technology — It’s Psychology

Headshots of two people smiling, set against a blue background with gradient and circular patterns.

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 Blueprint for AI Agent Adoption. Drawing on academic research and expert interviews with leaders at Google, ServiceNow, Zapier, and Workato, the two unpacked the psychological barriers slowing adoption — and the design strategies that can overcome them. …Read More

How A New Review Process Won the Wharton Hack-AI-thon, Presented by Expedia Group

Team WayWise poses after winning the 2026 Wharton Hack-AI-thon

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

Building AI Products That Last: Lessons from SXSW 2026

Headshot of a person in a suit against a blue, circular pattern background.

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 assume. …Read More

How to Build an Organization Where Creativity Actually Thrives

A small group of three people in a virtual meeting setup with a blue, circular patterned background.

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 School, and Margherita Pagani, director of the SKEMA Center for Artificial Intelligence.…Read More

Are We Being Deskilled by AI? What Business Leaders Need to Know

Headshots of two people on a blue and purple circular pattern background.

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

Why Authors Are Better at Predicting Impact Than Peer Review

AI Research Featured Image

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

Stop Telling AI Who to Be: Why Personas Don’t Improve Accuracy

Two people standing against a blue background with circular patterns, one wearing a collared shirt and the other in a suit jacket.

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