Machine-Mediated Teamwork
As AI driven systems increasingly become integrated into team contexts, understanding how even subtle machine behaviors influence human interactions and relationships is critical. In this talk, I explore how simple machine actions—like allocation decisions by robots or language suggestions from generative AI—can profoundly affect interpersonal dynamics within teams. Drawing on empirical studies, I illustrate how machine behaviors impact perceptions of fairness, dominance, cooperation, and affiliation among team members. Findings from experiments involving robotic allocation tasks and AI-generated messaging reveal that while these technologies can improve short-term productivity and interaction positivity, they also introduce significant social costs, potentially undermining the relational dynamics crucial for effective teamwork. I argue for a shift in research and design away from anthropomorphic, "teammate" conceptions of machines towards a more nuanced understanding of their role within human relational networks. By recognizing the subtle but impactful ways machines shape human interaction, we can better design technologies that support sustainable, effective, and healthy team environments.
Speaker Biography
Prof. Malte F. Jung (Cornell University | Information Science)
Associate Professor
Malte Jung is an Associate Professor in Information Science at Cornell University and the Nancy H. ’62 and Philip M. ’62 Young Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow. He directs the Interplay Research Studio that explores the interplay between people and automation. Jung’s research foregrounds the emotional and relational dimensions of human-AI and human-robot encounters. His work explores how robots become woven into the fabric of everyday life and work. His Interplay Research Studio aims to bring an art studio practice and sensibility to research in information science and robotics. It aims to develop new methods for studying interaction “in the wild” and collaborates across engineering, design, and the social sciences to ask not only how we build AI systems, but how those systems transform the environments, relationships, and values they enter into. Malte Jung holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (with a minor in Psychology) from Stanford University and a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich. Before joining Cornell, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Work, Technology, and Organization at Stanford. His research has been recognized with multiple best paper awards across HRI, CHI, CSCW, and UbiComp, and an NSF CAREER award.
