Prof. Yaniv Dover, Associate Professor of Marketing and Vice Dean for Research at the Hebrew University Business School, started his academic career as a physics major. It wasn’t until he was in the middle of his PhD. program that he decided to switch to the social sciences, because he felt he could make a greater impact in that field.
Dover brings what he terms “physics-based thinking” to the social sciences. “If you can simplify things, you can see patterns, and look at more of the common denominators between people and the bigger patterns,” he says.
His work bridges physics, marketing, and cognitive and social sciences, focusing on online reviews, digital platforms, social networks, and community resilience – drawing on large-scale data, causal inference, and models of social and economic dynamics. Dover is widely recognized for his pioneering research on fake online reviews, which factors affect and bias people when creating online content, and how communities form and survive in digital spaces. Recently, he has been investigating human-AI interactions and the effect of AI on social and economic systems.
As an expert specializing in social networking and consumer marketing, Dover cautions about overreliance on AI and says that experts need to examine how it is used. “We need to do things carefully, slowly, and deeply. I think you need people who think deeply and have the tools to check whether you’re going too quickly, and if you are being responsible in how you use AI.”
Dover points out that scientific methods play a significant role in marketing, especially with larger companies. He quips that even after he has eaten dinner, he still gets hungry when he watches television commercials for food products. “I always tell my students, ‘You’re learning these methods, you’re smart people, and you’re going to be hired for these high-powered marketing jobs. But it’s up to you to keep your ethical values, look around at your fellow students and fellow Israelis, and not abuse it.”
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