Exploring Collaborative GenAI Agents in Synchronous Group Settings: Eliciting Team Perceptions and Design Considerations for the Future of Work

2025-04-21

AI Summary

Most generative AI (GenAI) tools are designed for individual use, and their design principles and application mechanisms for synchronous team collaboration remain underexplored. Method: We conducted an empirical investigation with 25 professionals using a mixed-reality (MR) prototype, speculative design workshops, and semi-structured interviews. Contribution/Results: This study introduces and empirically validates the first design tension framework for *embodied collaborative GenAI agents*, structured around three dimensions: agent representation, social salience, and participatory engagement. We identify spatial immersion technologies as a critical moderator of human–AI coordination balance. Results demonstrate that such agents effectively mitigate group blind spots, bridge communication gaps, and reduce social friction. Key adoption determinants include individual trust in the agent, emergent team norms, and organizational alignment. The findings establish a theoretical foundation and empirical basis for designing team-level GenAI systems.

Technology Category

• Multiagent Systems: Teamwork
• Humans and AI: Human-AI Collaboration / Human-AI Teaming
• Intelligent Robots: Embodied AI

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Trust and reliance of crowd workers and data experts on GenAI
• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Agentic search

Abstract

While generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is finding increased adoption in workplaces, current tools are primarily designed for individual use. Prior work established the potential for these tools to enhance personal creativity and productivity towards shared goals; however, we don't know yet how to best take into account the nuances of group work and team dynamics when deploying GenAI in work settings. In this paper, we investigate the potential of collaborative GenAI agents to augment teamwork in synchronous group settings through an exploratory study that engaged 25 professionals across 6 teams in speculative design workshops and individual follow-up interviews. Our workshops included a mixed reality provotype to simulate embodied collaborative GenAI agents capable of actively participating in group discussions. Our findings suggest that, if designed well, collaborative GenAI agents offer valuable opportunities to enhance team problem-solving by challenging groupthink, bridging communication gaps, and reducing social friction. However, teams' willingness to integrate GenAI agents depended on its perceived fit across a number of individual, team, and organizational factors. We outline the key design tensions around agent representation, social prominence, and engagement and highlight the opportunities spatial and immersive technologies could offer to modulate GenAI influence on team outcomes and strike a balance between augmentation and agency.

Problem

• Exploring GenAI agents for teamwork in synchronous group settings
• Addressing group dynamics and nuances in collaborative work with GenAI
• Designing GenAI agents to enhance team problem-solving and communication

Innovation

• Collaborative GenAI agents enhance teamwork.
• Mixed reality prototype simulates embodied agents.
• Design balances augmentation and team agency.