New research points to the use of a chatbot in collaborative sessions as a possible factor in increased confidence when pitching ideas

A chatbot could spur human creativity during brainstorming


New research points to the use of a chatbot in collaborative sessions as a possible factor in increased confidence when pitching ideas

Interacting with a chatbot in a team setting could lead to greater creativity when the team’s human members feel less judged as they suggest ideas, according to a new study.

The study, “IdeaBot: Investigating Social Facilitation in Human-Machine Team Creativity,” by researchers at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Cornell CALS), used an AI platform from AI company Juji Inc. to investigate how humans collaborate with a cognitive AI assistant, in the form of a chatbot for a creative brainstorm.

The study found the following:

  • When human participants perceived their teammate was the Juji chatbot when participating in a creative idea task, they consistently produced more, higher-quality ideas.
  • When the conversational style of the chatbot was robotic (versus human-like), participants with high anxiety in group communication reported greater creative confidence.

“When working with the Juji chatbot, human participants worried less about judgments from their partners, and they yielded more fruitful conversational outcomes in the task,” said Angel Hwang, the study’s co-author and a graduate student working with Andrea Stevenson Won, assistant professor of communication and director of the Virtual Embodiment Lab at Cornell CALS.

“This research supports the promising role of autonomous agents like chatbots as active teammates and points to ways in which leveraging the distinction between artificial and human cues during conversation can drive positive outcomes.”

Hwang and Stevenson Won used Juji to design the conversational flow, customized certain functionalities of the chatbot to follow the conversational script written for three studies and designed the language used in the conversation with specific emphasis on being polite and formal.

“The findings showed that not only do chatbots powered by cognitive intelligence encourage greater participation and comfort for users, but can take on a meaningful role in collaborative, team settings,” said Michelle Zhou, CEO of Juji. “This can have far-reaching implications for not only universities, but businesses across every industry.”

Chatbots are expanding in higher education

Maryville University in St. Louis, MO, first started using a chatbot in 2019. To keep up with demand and ensure a seamless experience for its students, Maryville’s leadership decided to introduce “digital employees”–chatbots–into workstreams. The university’s first digital employee was Max.

“It is important to note we refer to them as ‘digital employees’ as the functionality and sophistication exceeds that of a typical chatbot,” explained Dr. Mark Lombadi, Maryville University’s president. “We know students expect and need excellent service so one of the goals was to scale our student service to keep pace with our rapid growth. Our philosophy is everything inside the classroom should be challenging but everything outside the classroom should be easy. We aim to make sure students have access to what they need 24/7/365 through multiple channels and from any device. The goal was for Max (our digital employee) to be on the front lines to answer common questions and then escalate any issues that needed more personalized attention to human staff.”

Maryville University initially made Max available in its online orientation for new adult undergraduates. “The idea was to engage these students before they started their first course and answer any questions they might have. The process of applying, getting accepted, financial aid, and registering for classes can be complicated. The early goal was to be able to provide basic information and direction 24/7,” said Lombardi.

Material from a press release was used in this report.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Laura Ascione

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.