Resoundingly Human: Is your bias affecting my meal?

02/21/20 • 9 min

When we travel to a new place, whether for long overdue vacation, a work trip, or simply a day trip someplace we’ve been meaning to check out, many of us rely on review platforms such as TripAdvisor and Yelp to help us plan our visit. In particular, we look for guidance and advice in selecting restaurants, making choices based on how previous visitors have rated their own experience.

But how accurate are these reviews really? And adding more ‘food’ for thought, how much of a role does personal bias play when it comes to these reviews, and exactly what factors contribute to that bias?

To learn about some surprising ways in which bias impacts online reviews, in this episode I am joined by Marios Kokkodis, professor with the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, whose study, “Your Hometown Matters: Popularity-Difference Bias in Online Reputation Platforms,” is slated for publication in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research.

Previous Episode

Resoundingly Human: Food lacking flavor? Sprinkle on a little AI!

It’s Friday night, you’re cooking dinner for your friends or family. The wine is poured, the table is set. You’re preparing a favorite recipe, but have added a brand new spice mix to the dish. It smells amazing, and everyone agrees, it tastes even better. But where did this new seasoning come from? The answer? Artificial Intelligence!

To talk about this fascinating new application of AI, the result of a partnership between IBM and McCormick, I am joined by Robin Lougee, Research Industry Lead with IBM.

Next Episode

Resoundingly Human: A look inside the rapid spread of the coronavirus, what are we missing?

In December 2019, the first cases of the coronavirus were identified in Wuhan, China. As the number of infections and subsequent patient deaths has continued to rise, the struggle to treat and contain the spread of the virus has become a worldwide concern for both medical professionals and world leaders.

For this episode I am joined by Richard Larson, post-tenure professor in the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, whose recently published article with the INFORMS magazine OR/MS Today, “The 2019-nCoV Coronavirus: Are there two routes to infection?” looks at the possible reasons this virus is spreading so rapidly.