Study Finds AI Tools Help but also Hurt Worker Performance
2023-10-05
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1An experiment involving hundreds of office workers has found that artificial intelligence (AI) tools can greatly help but also hurt worker performance.
2AI tools designed to operate at human levels have greatly expanded in popularity over the past year.
3These include OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard and Microsoft's AI-powered search engine Bing.
4Such tools, also known as chatbots or "generative AI," are computer-powered systems.
5They are designed to interact smoothly with humans and perform high-level writing and creative work.
6In recent months, these tools have demonstrated an ability to produce high quality work.
7This has led some technology experts to warn that generative AI systems could end up replacing workers in many industries.
8This year, researchers at Harvard Business School and other organizations carried out an experiment.
9It aimed to test how well AI tools could help workers perform their usual duties, or tasks.
10It involved more than 700 business advisors, called consultants, from Massachusetts-based Boston Consulting Group.
11Harvard Business School recently published results from the experiment in a "working paper."
12The main findings suggest that AI tools like ChatGPT can greatly improve worker performance.
13For example, researchers found that, on average, workers who used OpenAI's latest ChatGPT 4 tool completed 12 percent more tasks than non-ChatGPT users.
14Tasks carried out with help from the AI technology were completed 25 percent faster.
15And the team found the quality of work performed by consultants using ChatGPT 4 increased about 40 percent.
16Work tasks used in the study covered four main areas: creativity, analytical thinking, writing and persuasiveness.
17The team gave examples of worker tasks in each of these areas.
18One example for creativity was: "Propose at least 10 ideas for a new shoe targeting an underserved market or sport."
19For writing, consultants were asked to "write a press release with marketing copy" for a new product.
20To show persuasiveness, workers were told to write a letter to employees that explained why a particular product would beat competitors.
21Harvard Business School's Fabrizio Dell'Acqua was the paper's lead writer.
22He told technology website VentureBeat he thinks the results were especially important because they showed that AI tools can help even highly educated, experienced workers.
23"The fact that we could boost the performance of these highly paid, highly skilled consultants, from top, elite MBA institutions...I would say that's really impressive," Dell'Acqua said.
24However, the paper also noted areas where the performance of consultants using ChatGPT 4 dropped.
25The researchers said this was especially true with tasks the AI tool was not good at completing.
26Of tasks the AI was good at, the experiment showed it "significantly improved human performance," the paper said.
27But for tasks ChatGPT 4 was not right for, "humans relied too much on the AI, and were more likely to make mistakes."
28The researchers reported that consultants who used AI for tasks it was not well equipped for "were 19 percent less likely to produce correct solutions compared to those without AI."
29The experiment also showed how consultants used the AI tool differently to improve their work.
30The researchers said some workers purposely divided the tasks with some being completely carried out by the AI tool and others the workers themselves carried out completely.
31Other workers chose to use AI for all tasks, while "continually interacting with the technology."
32The team suggests one of the biggest barriers to companies effectively using AI is not knowing which tasks can be completed best with the technology.
33Finding this out will require businesses to carry out thoughtful research and training efforts in order to find the right mix of AI and human-level work.
34I'm Bryan Lynn.
1An experiment involving hundreds of office workers has found that artificial intelligence (AI) tools can greatly help but also hurt worker performance. 2AI tools designed to operate at human levels have greatly expanded in popularity over the past year. These include OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard and Microsoft's AI-powered search engine Bing. 3Such tools, also known as chatbots or "generative AI," are computer-powered systems. They are designed to interact smoothly with humans and perform high-level writing and creative work. 4In recent months, these tools have demonstrated an ability to produce high quality work. This has led some technology experts to warn that generative AI systems could end up replacing workers in many industries. 5This year, researchers at Harvard Business School and other organizations carried out an experiment. It aimed to test how well AI tools could help workers perform their usual duties, or tasks. It involved more than 700 business advisors, called consultants, from Massachusetts-based Boston Consulting Group. 6Harvard Business School recently published results from the experiment in a "working paper." The main findings suggest that AI tools like ChatGPT can greatly improve worker performance. 7For example, researchers found that, on average, workers who used OpenAI's latest ChatGPT 4 tool completed 12 percent more tasks than non-ChatGPT users. Tasks carried out with help from the AI technology were completed 25 percent faster. And the team found the quality of work performed by consultants using ChatGPT 4 increased about 40 percent. 8Work tasks used in the study covered four main areas: creativity, analytical thinking, writing and persuasiveness. The team gave examples of worker tasks in each of these areas. 9One example for creativity was: "Propose at least 10 ideas for a new shoe targeting an underserved market or sport." For writing, consultants were asked to "write a press release with marketing copy" for a new product. To show persuasiveness, workers were told to write a letter to employees that explained why a particular product would beat competitors. 10Harvard Business School's Fabrizio Dell'Acqua was the paper's lead writer. He told technology website VentureBeat he thinks the results were especially important because they showed that AI tools can help even highly educated, experienced workers. 11"The fact that we could boost the performance of these highly paid, highly skilled consultants, from top, elite MBA institutions...I would say that's really impressive," Dell'Acqua said. 12However, the paper also noted areas where the performance of consultants using ChatGPT 4 dropped. The researchers said this was especially true with tasks the AI tool was not good at completing. 13Of tasks the AI was good at, the experiment showed it "significantly improved human performance," the paper said. But for tasks ChatGPT 4 was not right for, "humans relied too much on the AI, and were more likely to make mistakes." 14The researchers reported that consultants who used AI for tasks it was not well equipped for "were 19 percent less likely to produce correct solutions compared to those without AI." 15The experiment also showed how consultants used the AI tool differently to improve their work. The researchers said some workers purposely divided the tasks with some being completely carried out by the AI tool and others the workers themselves carried out completely. Other workers chose to use AI for all tasks, while "continually interacting with the technology." 16The team suggests one of the biggest barriers to companies effectively using AI is not knowing which tasks can be completed best with the technology. Finding this out will require businesses to carry out thoughtful research and training efforts in order to find the right mix of AI and human-level work. 17I'm Bryan Lynn. 18Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Harvard Business School. 19______________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21analytical - adj. examining the details of something carefully in order to understand or explain it 22impressive - adj. making or attempting to make a marked impression 23boost -v. to lift or increase something 24elite - adj. the richest, most powerful or best educated groups in a society 25rely - v. to depend on