AI is often discussed as a technology that could replace human workers, but some researchers at Stanford University are focusing on how artificial intelligence can support and enhance human abilities in the workplace.
The concept of “AI complementarity” refers to the idea that AI tools should be used to boost what people do best, rather than replace them. Erik Brynjolfsson, professor of economics and operations, information, and technology at Stanford Graduate School of Business, led a study to see how AI might affect job performance. His team observed more than 5,000 customer support agents who used a generative AI assistant trained on millions of service request transcripts. The tool provided real-time suggestions while agents communicated with customers.
The results showed that using the AI assistant allowed workers to resolve 14% more issues per hour. Novice and low-skilled workers saw even greater benefits, with a 34% improvement in their performance. The research suggests that by handling large amounts of data quickly, AI enables employees to focus on tasks where human skills are most valuable.
Stanford GSB professors stress the importance of designing workplaces where humans remain central as companies adopt more AI technologies. Jann Spiess, associate professor of operations, information, and technology at Stanford GSB, said: “We don’t have much work – yet – that takes design of the human-AI interface really seriously. Our debate about AI and the capabilities of AI is really misplaced, because it’s all about ‘Is the AI better than the human?’ I think instead we should be asking, ‘What are the complementary uses of AI?’”
Kuang Xu, also an associate professor at Stanford GSB, added: “The bottom line is that AI and data science are supposed to help you drive better decisions. Always.”
This story was originally published by Stanford Graduate School of Business.
