Weekly Media Update

Week of June 26, 2026

Why AI Pricing Doesn’t Always Drive Prices Higher

AI pricing algorithms are widely feared to fuel price fixing in online marketplaces, but new research from Ron Berman shows that they can lower prices in many cases. “A lot of research assumes this is bad for consumers, that algorithms collude on prices and weaken competition,” Berman said. “Our paper shows that is not always the case. Consumers benefit in many cases.”

Social Networks Outsmart Cognitive Biases

In a new study, Damon Centola and Annenberg doctoral candidate Calvin Isch found that people subjected to cognitive bias could recover their ability to make rational decisions by exchanging their opinions with peers. “It’s a useful lesson for online networks. Sharing opinions in an egalitarian way enables even explicitly biased populations to overcome biases that are impossible for individuals to escape on their own,” Centola says.

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