Evolution From Human Virtual Teams to Artificial Virtual Teams Supported by Artificial Intelligence. Results of Literature Analysis and Empirical Research

Purpose: The paper addresses the research problem of the new organizational reality which will include hybrid virtual teams, where both humans and artificial agents will be members and management tasks or leadership roles will be assumed by artificial intelligence. The objectives of the paper are to initially answer 4 research questions: (1) what are the characteristics of virtual teams in the era of intelligent technology, (2) what is the role of technology in changing the human-machine relationship, (3) to what extent can artificial intelligence replace humans in a virtual team, (4) how can team members be replaced by artificial intelligence in a virtual team. Design/methodology/approach: The research method is a literature review and our own empirical research concerning the new organizational reality with hybrid virtual teams consisting of humans as well as artificial agents. The research data was the results of a long-term observation of a virtual team which was conducted in June 2021 in a group of students who worked 36 hours using online management tools in TransistorsHead.com and MS Teams. Findings: The research has shown that virtual teams require different ways of communication and that consequences of working in such a team change the types of tasks, time spent working together as a group and social aspects of cooperation between team members. This experiment has shown that the decision-making process based on artificial entities can fulfill the requirements of virtual teams and that such entities can be considered as teammates or teams (Team As A Software – TAAS). It is also possible also to imitate a human-like manager (Manager As A Software – MAAS) or its higher evolutionary copy, namely a “sophisticated superhuman machine”. Research limitations/implications: The research results presented here are an example of research conducted from 2012 on, by means of online managerial tools, concerning the work of virtual teams and the opportunity to replace a human manager with a robot one. The answers to the research questions can only be applied to the studied group of students and cannot be generalized for all teams. Future research will be conducted with a wider group of respondents. Originality/value: The originality of the presented research results lies in the fact that the data collected during the research represents the real activities undertaken by the manager and his/her team members during the 36-hour work on the task concerned rather than being mere declarations of these activities by the respondents.