Scaffolding Human-AI Collaboration: A Field Experiment on Behavioral Protocols and Cognitive Reframing

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Farach, Alex, Cambon, Alexia, Tankelevitch, Lev, Hsueh, Connie, Janssen, Rebecca
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Farach, Alex
Cambon, Alexia
Tankelevitch, Lev
Hsueh, Connie
Janssen, Rebecca
author_facet Farach, Alex
Cambon, Alexia
Tankelevitch, Lev
Hsueh, Connie
Janssen, Rebecca
contents Organizations have widely deployed generative AI tools, yet productivity gains remain uneven, suggesting that how people use AI matters as much as whether they have access. We conducted a field experiment with 388 employees at a Fortune 500 retailer to test two scaffolding interventions for human-AI collaboration. All participants had access to the same AI tool; we varied only the structure surrounding its use. A behavioral scaffolding intervention (a structured protocol requiring joint AI use within pairs) was associated with lower document quality relative to unstructured use and substantially lower document production. A cognitive scaffolding intervention (partnership training that reframed AI as a thought partner) was associated with higher individual document quality at the top of the distribution. Treatment participants also showed greater positive belief change across the session, though sensitivity analyses suggest this likely reflects recovery from carry-over effects rather than genuine training-induced shifts. Both findings are subject to design limitations including an AM/PM session confound, differential attrition, and LLM grading sensitivity to document length.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_08678
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Scaffolding Human-AI Collaboration: A Field Experiment on Behavioral Protocols and Cognitive Reframing
Farach, Alex
Cambon, Alexia
Tankelevitch, Lev
Hsueh, Connie
Janssen, Rebecca
General Economics
Economics
Human-Computer Interaction
Organizations have widely deployed generative AI tools, yet productivity gains remain uneven, suggesting that how people use AI matters as much as whether they have access. We conducted a field experiment with 388 employees at a Fortune 500 retailer to test two scaffolding interventions for human-AI collaboration. All participants had access to the same AI tool; we varied only the structure surrounding its use. A behavioral scaffolding intervention (a structured protocol requiring joint AI use within pairs) was associated with lower document quality relative to unstructured use and substantially lower document production. A cognitive scaffolding intervention (partnership training that reframed AI as a thought partner) was associated with higher individual document quality at the top of the distribution. Treatment participants also showed greater positive belief change across the session, though sensitivity analyses suggest this likely reflects recovery from carry-over effects rather than genuine training-induced shifts. Both findings are subject to design limitations including an AM/PM session confound, differential attrition, and LLM grading sensitivity to document length.
title Scaffolding Human-AI Collaboration: A Field Experiment on Behavioral Protocols and Cognitive Reframing
topic General Economics
Economics
Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.08678