Strengthening the Bonds of Human and Machine Collaboration | Deloitte Insights

Human and AI collaboration in the workplace continues to become more commonplace in many organizations. Still, organizations need to determine how to optimize AI for worker interaction. This article explores how AI and humans tend to collaborate, what challenges humans face when collaborating, and how to foster positive relationships between humans and machines in the workforce. The article covers how firms are responding to overcoming three challenges in human and AI interaction in the workplace. The three challenges are: 1) AI makes work harder for humans, 2) AI-structured work may increase short-term productivity but can decrease autonomy and engagement, and 3) Collaborating with AI can increase loneliness, isolation, and questions of identity. Figure 1 shows nine interactions workers can have with AI/machines, such as a) people working with AI to supervise AI’s work (machines as subordinates), b) people working with AI in a way that directs their work (machines as supervisors), to c) people working with AI in open-ended, highly iterative, and interactive ways over time in true partnership (machines as teammates). This nine-component framework can help organizations determine which types of human-AI interactions are optimal for certain types of work and work contexts.