Joined Stern 1983
Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Kaufman Management Center
44 West Fourth Street, 8-92
New York, NY 10012
Vasant Dhar
Biography
Vasant Dhar is an Artificial Intelligence researcher and data scientist and host of the podcast, "Brave New World," which explores how technology and virtualization in the post-COVID era is transforming humanity. He brought Machine Learning to Wall Street in the 90s, and subsequently founded the Machine-Learning-Based hedge-fund SCT Capital Management.
Dhar’s research focuses on how risk influences our trust in AI systems. It shows the existence of an “automation frontier” that expresses a tradeoff between how often the machine will be wrong and the consequences of its errors. Trust, and hence our willingness to cede control of decision making to the machine, rises with decreasing error rates and lower error costs. The automation frontier provides a natural way to think about the division of responsibility between humans and machines and future of work.
More broadly, Dhar’s research examines how innovations such as Artificial Intelligence impact our lives, and how we can create technology and policy for a better future in a world of increasingly intelligent machines.
Dhar writes regularly in the media on Artificial Intelligence, societal risks of AI platforms, data governance, privacy, ethics, and trust. He is a frequent speaker in academic and industrial forums.
Professor Dhar teaches courses on Systematic Investing, Data Science, Prediction, and Tech Innovation.
He has written over 100 research articles, funded by grants from industry and government agencies such as the National Science Foundation.
Professor Dhar received his Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, and his Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh.
Research Interests
- Data Science
- Predictive Analytics
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- Data Governance
Courses Taught
- Foundations of FinTech
- Introduction to Data Science
- Robo Advisors and Systematic Investing
Academic Background
Ph.D., Artificial Intelligence, 1984
University of Pittsburgh
M.Phil., 1982
University of Pittsburgh
B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, 1978
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Awards & Appointments
| Editor-in-Chief | Big Data | 2014 |
| Principal Investigator | Mining Online Delegate Data for 2012 US Presidential Elections, July 2011 | 2011 |
| Co-Principal Investigator | Interdisciplinary Studies in Security and Privacy, NYU Abu Dhabi | 2011 |
| Principal Investigator | Risk-Driven Catastrophes in Global 1000 Companies, funded by Deloitte & Touche | 2010 |
| Principal Investigator | News as a Risk Factor in Predictive Modeling, supported by Thomson Reuters ('10-present) | 2010 |
| Daniel P. Paduano Fellow ('09-'11) | NYU Stern | 2009 |
| Co-Director | Center for Business Analytics | 2006 |
Related News & Research
SVB Was a Hedge Fund in Disguise – And the Banking Crisis is an Overreaction.
‘A Whole New World Is Emerging’: Predictions For the Near Future of AI.
Elon Musk Is Right About Twitter and Solving Section 230.
Brave New World - By Vasant Dhar
Section 230: It’s Time to Equate Amplification to Publishing
Why the U.S. Needs Public-Private Partnerships for Digital Infrastructure
Brave New World
'Nationalize' Facebook and Twitter as Public Goods
3 Ways to Increase Social Media Platforms' Transparency
Social Media Platforms Are Undermining Our Democracy. Lawmakers Need to Step Up and Protect It.
In a story exploring the impact of the California Consumer Protection Act, Professor Vasant Dhar explains why there is an inverse monotonic relationship between privacy and value
Professors Vasant Dhar, Nicholas Economides and Lawrence White are quoted in a story exploring what the late July Big Tech hearing revealed and what the future might hold for Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google
In a video interview, Professor Vasant Dhar warns young investors about the risks associated with day trading
Day-Trading Reality Check: Humans are Poor Investors and even Worse Traders
Stocks In The Post-Covid World: What Now for Investors?
Machine Learning Won’t Crack the Stock Market — But Here’s When Investors Should Trust AI
Without Transparency, We Can't Trust Robot Operators — Especially in a Pandemic
In an op-ed, Professor Vasant Dhar highlights the challenges that designers and operators of AI systems face in times of crisis, pointing to his recent research on the COVID-19 pandemic
My ‘Greed-Oriented’ Algorithm is Telling Me to Buy Stocks
Professor Vasant Dhar discusses the current regulatory environment surrounding technology companies, noting how California’s consumer protection law is a step in the right direction
‘A Whole New World Is Emerging’: Predictions For the Near Future of AI.
Elon Musk Is Right About Twitter and Solving Section 230.
Brave New World - By Vasant Dhar
Section 230: It’s Time to Equate Amplification to Publishing
Why the U.S. Needs Public-Private Partnerships for Digital Infrastructure
Brave New World
'Nationalize' Facebook and Twitter as Public Goods
3 Ways to Increase Social Media Platforms' Transparency
Social Media Platforms Are Undermining Our Democracy. Lawmakers Need to Step Up and Protect It.
In a story exploring the impact of the California Consumer Protection Act, Professor Vasant Dhar explains why there is an inverse monotonic relationship between privacy and value
Professors Vasant Dhar, Nicholas Economides and Lawrence White are quoted in a story exploring what the late July Big Tech hearing revealed and what the future might hold for Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google
In a video interview, Professor Vasant Dhar warns young investors about the risks associated with day trading
Day-Trading Reality Check: Humans are Poor Investors and even Worse Traders
Stocks In The Post-Covid World: What Now for Investors?
Machine Learning Won’t Crack the Stock Market — But Here’s When Investors Should Trust AI
Without Transparency, We Can't Trust Robot Operators — Especially in a Pandemic
In an op-ed, Professor Vasant Dhar highlights the challenges that designers and operators of AI systems face in times of crisis, pointing to his recent research on the COVID-19 pandemic
My ‘Greed-Oriented’ Algorithm is Telling Me to Buy Stocks
Professor Vasant Dhar discusses the current regulatory environment surrounding technology companies, noting how California’s consumer protection law is a step in the right direction
Areas of Expertise
Finance
- High Frequency Trading
Industry
- Publishing
Technology, Operations & Statistics
- Artificial Intelligence
- Database Management
- ITSolutions
- Information Systems Development