Wharton Professor Daniel Rock was named to Schmidt Sciences' second cohort of early career fellows who will pursue multidisciplinary research in artificial intelligence for societal benefits (Photo from Wharton).
Schmidt Sciences has named Wharton professor Daniel Rock as one of 19 AI2050 Early Career Fellows who will pursue solutions in artificial intelligence through multidisciplinary research.
Rock joins the second cohort of young researchers globally who will receive financial and non-monetary support for their research from Schmidt Sciences, a philanthropic organization dedicated to fostering the advancement of science and technology. The AI2050 initiative aims to address the potential risks and challenges associated with artificial intelligence and has developed a working list of these problems that it can help researchers in solving.
The initiative launched in 2022 with a $125 million commitment from co-founders Eric and Wendy Schmidt over a five-year period. The 2023 cohort of early career fellows will receive up to $300,000 over two years for their AI research in fields including computer science, political science, philosophy, and economics.
Rock received his undergraduate degree from the Wharton School in 2010 and currently serves as an assistant professor of operations, information, and decisions. His research encompasses the economic effects of artificial intelligence and explores the occupations most vulnerable to the influence of machine learning. His work has appeared in various publications and outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Harvard Business Review. In addition to teaching, Rock is an affiliated faculty member at AI at Wharton.
As an early career fellow, Rock will continue analyzing the relationship between AI advancements, economic policies, and labor market dynamics. Additionally, he will develop a large language model trained on job postings data.
In February, Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science announced that it would be launching an artificial intelligence major for students starting in fall 2024, making Penn the first Ivy League school to offer an undergraduate degree in AI. There has also been an increase in discourse and dialogue surrounding AI on campus, including a literacy interest group that explores how different topics, such as gender and religion, relate to large language models.
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