AIORG-W005 Working papers

The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise

NBER w33641 · SSRN 5207588

working paper abstract and pdf

Recorded claims
2
coded from the inspected source
Evidence classes
1
scholarly-full-text
Recorded limitations
4
stated, never hidden

From the wave-0 evidence ledger

Recorded claims

Each claim states what the inspected source says, at the recorded location—bounded by its scope and graded by its confidence. Nothing here is a synthesis across works.

In a pre-registered experiment with 776 P&G professionals, individuals with AI produced work whose performance matched that of human teams without AI, indicating that an AI complement can substitute for some coordination capacity on the studied product-development tasks.

confidence: high within study; medium external validity scholarly-full-text

Scope: P&G product-development professionals and bounded innovation tasks; not full-team or firm-performance equivalence.

AI access reduced performance gaps between commercial and technical specialists and was associated with more positive self-reported emotional responses, supporting a boundary-crossing mechanism while not eliminating the need to test team and task fit.

confidence: medium-high scholarly-full-text

Scope: Studied cross-functional innovation tasks and participants; affect outcome is self-reported.

Boundaries

Limitations & independence

Recorded at coding time, carried with the work forever. A claim without its limits is not evidence.

Recorded limitations

  • Single consumer-goods company and selected innovation tasks
  • Working-paper status
  • Some affect and collaboration measures are self-reported
  • AI/model capability is time-specific

Source independence

Academic field experiment conducted with P&G professionals; one focal firm supplies the setting but treatment was pre-registered.