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Harmony in intelligent hybrid teams: the influence of the intellectual ability of artificial intelligence on human members’ reactions

Aihui Chen (College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China)
Mengqi Xiang (College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China)
Mingyu Wang (College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China)
Yaobin Lu (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China)

Information Technology & People

ISSN: 0959-3845

Article publication date: 18 November 2022

Issue publication date: 21 November 2023

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationships among the intellectual ability of artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive emotional processes and the positive and negative reactions of human members. The authors also examined the moderating role of AI status in teams.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors designed an experiment and recruited 120 subjects who were randomly distributed into one of three groups classified by the upper, middle and lower organization levels of AI in the team. The findings in this study were derived from subjects’ self-reports and their performance in the experiment.

Findings

Regardless of the position held by AI, human members believed that its intelligence level is positively correlated with dependence behavior. However, when the AI and human members are at the same level, the higher the intelligence of AI, the more likely it is that its direct interaction with team members will lead to conflicts.

Research limitations/implications

This paper only focuses on human–AI harmony in transactional work in hybrid teams in enterprises. As AI applications permeate, it should be considered whether the findings can be extended to a broader range of AI usage scenarios.

Practical implications

These results are helpful for understanding how to improve team performance in light of the fact that team members have introduced AI into their enterprises in large quantities.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on how the intelligence level of AI affects the positive and negative behaviors of human members in hybrid teams. The study also innovatively introduces “status” into hybrid organizations.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported jointly by the grant of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72271182, 72231004 and 71810107003), the grant of National Social Science Foundation of China (18ZDA109) and the funding from Shandong Industrial Internet Innovation and Entrepreneurship Community.

Citation

Chen, A., Xiang, M., Wang, M. and Lu, Y. (2023), "Harmony in intelligent hybrid teams: the influence of the intellectual ability of artificial intelligence on human members’ reactions", Information Technology & People, Vol. 36 No. 7, pp. 2826-2846. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-01-2022-0059

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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