W4386827556 Working papers AI × management and organizations

Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality

Fabrizio Dell'Acqua · Edward McFowland III · Ethan R. Mollick · Hila Lifshitz-Assaf · Katherine Kellogg · Saran Rajendran · Lisa Krayer · François Candelon · Karim R. Lakhani

Also recorded as: HBS Technology & Operations Working Paper 24-013 · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4573321 · ssrn:4573321

ssrn abstract page · 2023-09-18

Recorded claims
1
coded from the inspected source
Evidence classes
1
ssrn-abstract-page
Recorded limitations
2
stated, never hidden

From the hash-bound evidence releases

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 preregistered experiment with 758 BCG knowledge workers assigned to no AI, GPT-4, or GPT-4 plus prompt training, AI-access participants completed 12.2% more of 18 tasks judged within the AI frontier, worked 25.1% faster, and produced higher-quality outputs, but on one complex managerial task outside that frontier they were 19% less likely to provide a correct solution.

confidence: high ssrn-abstract-page apw-e1-ssrn-backfill

Scope: Universe and denominator: 758 BCG knowledge workers overall; unit: worker/task output; period: not displayed; task denominator: 18 in-frontier tasks and one outside-frontier task; arm sizes and task-level denominators are not displayed.

Structured relationships

In-corpus citations

Only source-supplied cites relationships whose two endpoints are admitted are shown. Invocation evidence remains a separate relationship.

Boundaries

Limitations & independence

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

Recorded limitations

  • Abstract-level evidence only; full text was not inspected.
  • Arm counts, study period, uncertainty, the quality scale, exact interpretation of 19% less likely, and validation of the frontier classification are not displayed; one firm and researcher-selected tasks limit generalization.

Source independence

ssrn-only