Can AI Be Your Teammate or Friend? Frequent AI Users Are More Likely to Grant Humanlike Roles to AI

The purpose of this research was to identify the comfort levels of professionals with AI in various humanlike roles. A survey of 787 full-time working adults showed that more active AI users are comfortable with AI in many humanlike roles, such as a teammate or a performance coach. Less active AI users, however, are uncomfortable with AI in these roles. Leaders, managers, and educators should prepare employees and students to responsibly address the social and psychological outcomes of increasingly humanlike AI.