# Exploring Collaborative GenAI Agents in Synchronous Group Settings: Eliciting Team Perceptions and Design Considerations for the Future of Work arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.14779 ยท HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.14779/ ## Key facts - Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). - Builds on 30 of its 137 references that are in the map. - First posted on arXiv 21 Apr 2025. ## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 30) - [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023) - [A Survey on Large Language Model based Autonomous Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.11432/) (2023) - [Ethical and social risks of harm from Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.04359/) (2021) - [Social Simulacra: Creating Populated Prototypes for Social Computing Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.04024/) (2022) - [To Trust or to Think: Cognitive Forcing Functions Can Reduce Overreliance on AI in AI-assisted Decision-making](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.09692/) (2021) - [The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.16244/) (2024) - [Design Principles for Generative AI Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.14484/) (2024) - [Do LLM Agents Exhibit Social Behavior?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.15198/) (2023) - [Conceptual Metaphors Impact Perceptions of Human-AI Collaboration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.02311/) (2020) - [Why human-AI relationships need socioaffective alignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.02528/) (2025) - [AI-Augmented Brainwriting: Investigating the use of LLMs in group ideation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.14978/) (2024) - [Towards Human-AI Deliberation: Design and Evaluation of LLM-Empowered Deliberative AI for AI-Assisted Decision-Making](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.16812/) (2024) - [The Effects of Generative AI on Design Fixation and Divergent Thinking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.11164/) (2024) - [How Knowledge Workers Think Generative AI Will (Not) Transform Their Industries](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.06778/) (2023) - [CoAIcoder: Examining the Effectiveness of AI-assisted Human-to-Human Collaboration in Qualitative Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.05560/) (2023) - [Interactive AI Alignment: Specification, Process, and Evaluation Alignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.00710/) (2023) - [Understanding Nonlinear Collaboration between Human and AI Agents: A Co-design Framework for Creative Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.07312/) (2024) - [Designing Participatory AI: Creative Professionals' Worries and Expectations about Generative AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08931/) (2023) - [Embedding Large Language Models into Extended Reality: Opportunities and Challenges for Inclusion, Engagement, and Privacy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.03907/) (2024) - [Designing for Appropriate Reliance: The Roles of AI Uncertainty Presentation, Initial User Decision, and User Demographics in AI-Assisted Decision-Making](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.05612/) (2024) - [When happy accidents spark creativity: Bringing collaborative speculation to life with generative AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.00533/) (2022) - [The Design Space of Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.10547/) (2023) - [Engaged and Affective Virtual Agents: Their Impact on Social Presence, Trustworthiness, and Decision-Making in the Group Discussion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.10385/) (2023) - [Enough With "Human-AI Collaboration"](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.01615/) (2023) - [LADICA: A Large Shared Display Interface for Generative AI Cognitive Assistance in Co-Located Team Collaboration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.13968/) (2024) - [Toward Metaphor-Fluid Conversation Design for Voice User Interfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.11554/) (2025) - [The AI Collaborator: Bridging Human-AI Interaction in Educational and Professional Settings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.10460/) (2024) - [Post-human interaction design, yes, but cautiously](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.05019/) (2020) - [Practice-informed Patterns for Organising Large Groups in Distributed Mixed Reality Collaboration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.04873/) (2024) - [Speculating About Multi-user Conversational Interfaces and LLMs: What If Chatting Wasn't So Lonely?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.14390/) (2024) ## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3) - [Understanding, Protecting, and Augmenting Human Cognition with Generative AI: A Synthesis of the CHI 2025 Tools for Thought Workshop](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.21036/) (2025) - [Adaptive Memory and Reflection Multi-Agent System for Medical Question Answering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.19029/) (2026) - [Specialists Learn Faster: Knowledge Organization in Pre-training Shapes Knowledge Update Efficiency](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.13835/) (2026) ## Abstract (arXiv) While generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is finding increased adoption in workplaces, current tools are primarily designed for individual use. Prior work established the potential for these tools to enhance personal creativity and productivity towards shared goals; however, we don't know yet how to best take into account the nuances of group work and team dynamics when deploying GenAI in work settings. In this paper, we investigate the potential of collaborative GenAI agents to augment teamwork in synchronous group settings through an exploratory study that engaged 25 professionals across 6 teams in speculative design workshops and individual follow-up interviews. Our workshops included a mixed reality provotype to simulate embodied collaborative GenAI agents capable of actively participating in group discussions. Our findings suggest that, if designed well, collaborative GenAI agents offer valuable opportunities to enhance team problem-solving by challenging groupthink, bridging communication gaps, and reducing social friction. However, teams' willingness to integrate GenAI agents depended on its perceived fit across a number of individual, team, and organizational factors. We outline the key design tensions around agent representation, social prominence, and engagement and highlight the opportunities spatial and immersive technologies could offer to modulate GenAI influence on team outcomes and strike a balance between augmentation and agency.