in mutually beneficial activities with co-workers, they would become “takers” in their relationships. However, that tentative finding does not apply to all workers using AI. “Some of those who used the tool a lot realized that they had high interdependence with their co-workers and actually became more generous the more they used the tool,” Leavitt said. “Presumably it freed up resources from petty tasks and enabled them to focus on solving bigger problems and on higher quality relationships. “We see a kind of crossover. The more you use the tool, it pushes you away from quid pro quo of reciprocal exchange, but it pushes you either to be more generous or to be sort of more miserly in your social exchanges with other people.” In monitoring those exchanges, Leavitt suggests, managers have a couple of levers to pull. One is the reminder that AI tools have flaws and that their results need review. The other is employee access to AI tools. Restricting access to times when there’s a discrete purpose for using them may reduce the risk to workplace relationships. Leavitt has explored the impacts of AI in the workplace, but he focuses on the interface with human workers and doesn’t consider himself a specialist in the technology itself. As AI becomes increasingly entrenched in business operations, he thinks it will become second nature, as cell phones and ecommerce are today, and less an object of research. Nevertheless, he wants his students to recognize how AI shows up in the management principles and practices they are learning in the classroom. For example, rather than the traditional term paper, which can readily be written by tools like ChatGPT, Leavitt is developing what he calls a kind of ‘bingo card.’ He wants to help students identify the concepts from the course as they spot them in the real world, a task that AI tools may not perform well. “When students see one of the concepts from class happen in their own life or pop up in the media, I ask them to provide me that example,” he said. “As opposed to doing something they could hand over to a GPT tool, I have them scouring the world around them.” “With regard to AI itself, they need to understand these tools deeply, not just be able to write prompts. And I think they also need to be able to step back and wisely contextualize them and think about what the tools do well and what the tools don’t do well.” When it comes to AI and other emerging technologies, Leavitt sees himself “not so much as the brakes, but the brakes and the steering wheel, thinking about how we are using and managing these tools.” A paper on the hotel study is being finalized for journal submission. Business Matters | 13
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