Signal Study finds AI teammates dominate team conversation while eroding human-human social bonds

Summary

Researchers examined how the presence of a conversational AI teammate reshapes communication among human members of small decision-making teams, using Group Communication Analysis, team surveys and lexical analysis. In a randomized controlled study, teams of two students plus one AI teammate (16 teams) were compared against all-human teams of three (17 teams) completing a high-stakes moral-dilemma decision task. Across six communication-analysis dimensions and survey outcomes, the AI teammate was found to be the single most talkative and self-cohesive member of every team, yet its contributions carried the least new information and lowest density. The AI's presence also reshaped communication among the human members: in AI-human teams, human teammates showed lower responsivity and social impact toward one another and reported lower feelings of belonging and status. Greater AI dominance in conversation was associated with team members feeling less valued, and this social cost was present immediately at baseline rather than emerging over time.