Christian Terwiesch

Productivity in the Age of Intelligent Automation

A futuristic representation of a computer chip surrounded by glowing circuits and digital connections, symbolizing advanced technology or computing power. Productivity in the Age of Intelligent Automation Spring 2025 Conference Report Productivity has always been a central concern of business leaders, operations researchers, and innovators. But what it means to be productive—and how we measure and achieve it—is rapidly changing in the age of artificial intelligence. The Mack Institute’s Spring…Read More

New in Nature: ChatGPT Decreases Idea Diversity in Brainstorming

A digital illustration of a human brain overlaid with circuit patterns, symbolizing artificial intelligence or the connection between the human mind and technology.

Mack Institute predoctoral fellow Lennart Meincke, Wharton Professor Gideon Nave, and Mack Institute Co-Director Christian Terwiesch have published a new paper on AI and creativity in the prestigious journal Nature Human Behaviour. Building on growing research into how artificial intelligence can support idea generation, their study reveals a crucial tradeoff:…Read More

Reimagining Customer Service Journeys with LLMs: A Framework for Chatbot Design and Workflow Integration

A person using a smartphone with a digital chatbot illustration displaying the message, "What can I help you with?" Prof. Christian Terwiesch, Mack Institute co-director, and Lennart Meincke, Mack Institute predoctoral fellow, have co-authored a new working paper on chatbot design and workflow integration, the latest in Prof. Terwiesch's series of papers on practical applications of Generative AI. The paper devises a framework for chatbot implementation based on varying…Read More

Increasing AI Idea Variance

Hands arranging blank sticky notes on a dark surface, with one hand holding a marker.

Mack Institute Research Assistant Lennart Meincke, Wharton Professor Ethan Mollick and Mack Institute Co-Director and Wharton Professor Christian Terwiesch have published the next in Terwiesch’s series of working papers on ChatGPT. The new paper evaluates how LLMs can be used for idea generation and explores methods to increase the novelty,…Read More

Can AI Provide Ethical Advice?

Silhouette of a human head with a digital circuit pattern, representing artificial intelligence or technology integration.

Christian Terwiesch, Mack Institute co-director and Wharton Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, continues his exploration of Generative AI with a new paper entitled “Can AI Provide Ethical Advice?” Co-authored with Lennart Meincke, the paper details an experiment that pits advice from the New York Times famous “The Ethicist” column…Read More

Mack’s Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich in the Wall Street Journal: “M.B.A. Students vs. ChatGPT”

A digital illustration of a human brain overlaid with circuit patterns, symbolizing artificial intelligence or the connection between the human mind and technology.

Mack Institute co-director Christian Terwiesch and core team member Karl Ulrich have published an article in the Wall Street Journal detailing their research on on ChatGPT and idea generation. Based on a recent working paper, the article details their recent research, which compared business ideas generated by ChatGPT with ideas…Read More

Can Patients Differentiate Between Chatbots and Physicians? Using Conversational AI to Facilitate Provider to Patient Messaging

Funded Research Proposal

Hummy Song, Operations, Information and Decisions The Wharton School; Christian Terwiesch, Operations, Information and Decisions, The Wharton School; Hessam Bavafa, Wisconsin School of Business; David Asch, Health Care Management, The Wharton School; Xufei Liu, PhD in Operations, Information and Decisions, The Wharton School Abstract: Since ChatGPT was introduced, it has passed…Read More

New Working Paper Finds ChatGPT A Better Innovation “Ideator” Than MBA Students

A laptop on a wooden table displays a webpage titled "100 ChatGPT audience building prompts." A cup of coffee sits nearby.

Earlier this year, Christian Terwiesch, Mack Institute co-director and Wharton Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, made headlines with his white paper showing that ChatGPT could easily pass a typical Wharton MBA exam. Now he and co-authors Karan Girotra, Lennart Meincke, and Karl T. Ulrich have released a new working…Read More

WATCH: ChatGPT for Work, Training and Education

The image is a screenshot of a text conversation discussing innovation management. It describes innovation management as the process of managing and promoting new and creative ideas within an organization, involving activities like market research, idea generation, prototyping, testing, and evaluating innovations.

Will ChatGPT take my job? Does the rise of AI mean should I change my college major? We gathered together three of Wharton and Penn’s leading experts on artificial intelligence to discuss how LLMs like ChatGPT will impact the workplace and education in the future. Watch the full video above.…Read More

Would Chat GPT Get a Wharton MBA? New White Paper By Christian Terwiesch

A person in a suit and checkered shirt is smiling and standing in a hallway with large windows. The setting appears professional and modern.

GPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot from OpenAI, went viral soon after its launch, drawing attention to and raising questions about the future of generative AI. But is it smart enough to pass a final exam in a typical Wharton MBA course? Mack Institute Co-Director Christian Terwiesch published his findings in…Read More

The Impact of e-Visits on Visit Frequencies and Patient Health: Evidence from Primary Care

Published Research

Secure messaging, or “e-visits,” between patients and providers has sharply increased in recent years, and many hope they will help improve healthcare quality, while increasing provider capacity. Using a panel data set from a large healthcare system in the United States, we find that e-visits trigger about 6% more office visits, with mixed results on phone visits and patient health.…Read More