Reshaping Teamwork: Understanding <scp>AI</scp> Usage in Student Group Projects

ABSTRACT As AI tools become increasingly integrated into academic settings, it is critical to understand their roles in teamwork in collaborative settings. This study aims to understand how AI Usage is reshaping teamwork by examining college students' engagement with AI in group projects, focusing on usage scenarios, perceived AI roles, and task allocation. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 20 undergraduate and graduate students across diverse disciplines and coded the transcripts according to a team‐AI collaboration framework. Findings reveal that: 1) students employed AI in various task types, including creative, information processing, output‐oriented, and planning tasks, assigning roles such as ideation partner, expert advisor, and time planner depending on the context; 2) while AI use enhanced productivity and efficiency, it also led to reduced human communication, reduced sense of ownership, and concerns about skill development and academic integrity; 3) limited transparency regarding AI use within teams may lead to distrust and uncertainty about individual contributions, highlighting the importance of establishing shared awareness in collaborative work involving AI. The findings suggest that teams should be more deliberate in human‐AI task allocation to take advantage of AI capabilities and be more transparent among team members of AI use during collaboration.