A study by Cornell University researchers Angel Hsing-Chi Hwang and Andrea Stevenson Won found that an artificial intelligence (AI) teammate with a female voice increased participation and productivity among women in male-dominated teams. The study, which involved around 180 men and women, suggests that the gender of an AI’s voice can positively influence team dynamics. The AI agent was not fully automated but was fed lines by Hwang using ChatGPT. The findings could inform the design of bots used for human-AI teamwork.
The Impact of AI’s Gendered Voice on Team Dynamics
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been making waves in various sectors, and now, it seems to be influencing team dynamics as well. A recent study conducted by Cornell University researchers has found that an AI-powered virtual teammate with a female voice can significantly enhance participation and productivity among women in male-dominated teams.
The research, led by postdoctoral associate Angel Hsing-Chi Hwang, suggests that the gender of an AI’s voice can positively alter the dynamics of gender-imbalanced teams. This discovery could potentially inform the design of bots used for human-AI teamwork. The study, titled “The Sound of Support: Gendered Voice Agent as Support to Minority Teammates in Gender-Imbalanced Team,” received an honorable mention for the Best Paper award at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
The Experiment and Its Findings
To understand how AI can assist gender-imbalanced teams, Hwang and co-author Andrea Stevenson Won conducted an experiment involving approximately 180 men and women. The participants were divided into groups of three and asked to collaborate virtually on a set of tasks. Each group included either one woman or one man and a fourth agent—an abstract shape with either a male or female voice.
The researchers found that when women were in the minority, they participated more when the AI’s voice was female. Conversely, men in the minority were more talkative but less task-focused when working with a male-sounding bot. Interestingly, most participants did not express a preference for a male- or female-sounding voice, suggesting that people’s social inferences about AI can be influential even when they don’t believe they are important.
The Role of AI in Enhancing Team Dynamics
The study’s findings mirror previous research in psychology and organizational behavior, which shows that minority teammates are more likely to participate if the team adds members similar to them. However, hiring a new person to balance a team in real-time isn’t always feasible. This is where AI comes into play. The researchers suggest that on-demand AI agents can participate and potentially change team dynamics positively.
The Perception of AI Teammates
The perception of AI teammates also played a significant role in the study. Women reported significantly more positive perceptions of the AI teammate when they were the minority members. This suggests that even with only a gendered voice, the AI agent can provide a small degree of support to women minority members in a group.
The Future of AI in Team Dynamics
The study’s findings open up new avenues for the use of AI in team dynamics. As Hwang, who will join the faculty of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California this Fall, points out, people often feel more at ease and thus work better on teams with people who are like them. This research could potentially inform the design of AI agents to better support minority members in various team settings.
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