Cognitive Spillover in Human-AI Teams

Abstract

AI is not only a neutral tool in team settings; it influence the social and cognitive fabric of collaboration. Across two randomized experiments, we demonstrate that AI exposure produces causal spillover into human-human interaction—affecting shared language, collective attention, shared mental models, and social cohesion. These spillover effects occur robustly across settings, modalities, tasks, and AI qualities, suggesting that mere exposure to AI drives the influence. AI functions as an implicit “social forcefield,” influencing not only how people speak, but also how they think, what they attend to, and how they relate to each other. We argue for shifting the design paradigm from optimizing “AI as a tool” to understanding AI as a socially influential actor whose effects extend beyond the human-AI interface.

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