In this episode of CX Iconoclast, Richard Owen sits down with Dean Eckles, MIT professor and former Facebook data scientist, to explore the real-world dynamics of misinformation—and what actually works to stop it. Eckles shares insights from his landmark research showing that correcting false content on social media doesn’t always reduce misinformation. In fact, it can sometimes make things worse, prompting users to double down and share even more toxic content. But there’s good news: features like Community Notes, when designed to provide neutral context from a broad base of users, can significantly reduce the viral spread of low-quality information—especially among more passive, less entrenched audiences.
The conversation shifts to how businesses can close the data gap. Eckles describes how platforms like Meta leverage rich behavioral data to adjust for survey bias, offering a blueprint for companies that want more accurate customer insights. But most organizations aren’t sitting on massive data lakes—and that’s where predictive AI and synthetic data can help fill in the blanks. Richard and Dean also tackle a key leadership challenge: how to get executives to trust data over instinct. The goal? Not perfection, but progress. Use AI to narrow the decision space, eliminate high-risk choices, and create meaningful lift—whether you’re in the boardroom or on the front lines. It’s not about man versus machine. It’s about smarter decisions, powered by both.
Dean Eckles is a social scientist and statistician. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dean is the William F. Pounds Professor in the MIT Sloan School of Management and associate director of the Institute for Data, Systems & Society in the Schwarzman College of Computing. Much of his research examines how interactive technologies affect human behavior, especially by mediating social influence. Dean also works on methods for inferring cause–effect relationships and on applied statistics more generally. Dean’s empirical work uses observational studies and field experiments involving hundreds of millions of people.
His papers appear in Journal of the American Statistical Association, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature, Operations Research, Management Science, and other peer-reviewed journals and proceedings in statistics, computer science, and marketing. He is a co-organizer of the Conference on Digital Experimentation (CODE@MIT). He was previously a scientist at Facebook and Nokia. Dean completed five degrees, including his PhD, at Stanford University.
Find out how predictive CX analytics can help your business: https://ocxcognition.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ocxcognition/
Connect with Richard Owen on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richard-owen-98ba3
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com