Recent advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed collaborative work processes, yet the impact on team performance remains underexplored. Here we examine the role of generative AI in enhancing or replacing traditional team dynamics using a randomized controlled experiment with 435 participants across 122 teams. We show that teams augmented with generative AI significantly outperformed those relying solely on human collaboration across various performance measures. Interestingly, teams with multiple AIs did not exhibit further gains, indicating diminishing returns with increased AI integration. Our analysis suggests that centralized AI usage by a few team members is more effective than distributed engagement. Additionally, individual-AI pairs matched the performance of conventional teams, suggesting a reduced need for traditional team structures in some contexts. However, despite this capability, individual-AI pairs still fell short of the performance levels achieved by AI-assisted teams. These findings underscore that while generative AI can replace some traditional team functions, more comprehensively integrating AI within team structures provides superior benefits, enhancing overall effectiveness beyond individual efforts.

翻译：近期生成式人工智能（AI）的进展已改变了协作工作流程，但其对团队绩效的影响仍未得到充分探究。本研究通过一项涉及435名参与者、122个团队的随机对照实验，探讨了生成式AI在增强或替代传统团队动态中的作用。我们发现，在各种绩效指标上，配备生成式AI的团队显著优于仅依赖人类协作的团队。有趣的是，配备多个AI的团队并未表现出进一步的增益，这表明随着AI整合程度的提高，收益呈现递减趋势。我们的分析表明，由少数团队成员集中使用AI比分布式参与更为有效。此外，个体-AI配对达到了传统团队的绩效水平，这表明在某些情境下对传统团队结构的需求有所降低。然而，尽管具备这种能力，个体-AI配对的绩效仍低于AI辅助团队所达到的水平。这些发现强调，虽然生成式AI可以替代部分传统团队功能，但将AI更全面地整合到团队结构中能带来更优的效益，从而超越个体努力，提升整体效能。