Flutterby™! : sucking up to AI needs more evidence

So, uh, they're not explicitly naming the paper that claims that "AI" boosts worker productivity, but it's widely assumed to be Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Discovery, and Product Innovation by Aidan Toner-Rodgers that was covered breathlessly with headlines like American Enterprise Institute: An Encouraging Study on the Transformative Potential of AI... MIT Economics: Assuring an accurate research record

The paper 'Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Discovery and Product Innovation' by a former second-year PhD student in the Department of Economics at MIT, is already known and discussed extensively in the literature on AI and science, even though it has not been published in any refereed journal. Over time, we had concerns about the validity of this research, which we brought to the attention of the appropriate office at MIT. In early February, MIT followed its written policy and conducted an internal, confidential review. While student privacy laws and MIT policy prohibit the disclosure of the outcome of this review, we want to be clear that we have no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and in the veracity of the research.

“We are making this information public because we are concerned that, even in its non-published form, the paper is having an impact on discussions and projections about the effects of AI on science. Ensuring an accurate research record is important to MIT. We therefore would like to set the record straight and share our view that at this point the findings reported in this paper should not be relied on in academic or public discussions of these topics.”

Wall Street Journal: MIT Says It No Longer Stands Behind Student’s AI Research Paper.

Via.