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Super Mario Meets AI: Experimental Effects of Automation and Skills on Team Performance and Coordination

Author

Listed:
  • Fabrizio Dell'Acqua

    (Harvard Business School)

  • Bruce Kogut

    (Columbia Business School)

  • Patryk Perkowski

    (Yeshiva University)

Abstract

This article studies the effects of the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into teams in a laboratory experiment. We randomly assign automated co-workers into “laboratory firms” who are playing a team-based game on the Nintendo Switch console. We demonstrate that even in a task where AI outperforms humans, automation decreases overall team performance and increases coordination failures. These effects are especially large in the short-term and in low- and medium-skilled teams. Moreover, automation reduces team trust and individual effort provision. Our results support the implication that improving collaborative human-machine teams is key to the positive transformation that AI may bring to organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabrizio Dell'Acqua & Bruce Kogut & Patryk Perkowski, 2025. "Super Mario Meets AI: Experimental Effects of Automation and Skills on Team Performance and Coordination," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 107(4), pages 951-966, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:107:y:2025:i:4:p:951-966
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01328
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    Cited by:

    1. Felipe Caro & Jean-Edouard Colliard & Elena Katok & Axel Ockenfels & Nicolas Stier-Moses & Catherine Tucker & D. J. Wu, 2026. "Introduction to the Special Issue on the Human-Algorithm Connection," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 72(1), pages 1-13, January.

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