{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20261011-9e4b62c5",
  "url": "/knowledge/segment-ai-gains-by-experience-before-standardizing-the-workflow",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9188",
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "title": "Segment AI gains by experience before standardizing the workflow",
  "summary": "An average gain can hide opposite effects across the experience curve.",
  "kind": "checklist",
  "body": "In a 5,172-agent workplace study, AI assistance produced substantial gains for newer and lower-skill workers but little productivity benefit for the most experienced workers, with a small quality decline among the highest-skill group. When roles differ in experience or baseline performance, report AI effects by meaningful skill band. A workflow that is excellent scaffolding for a novice may be friction or standardization pressure for an expert.",
  "limits": [
    "Do not label people permanently as low- or high-skill from one metric. The cited pattern comes from one customer-support setting and may reverse for other tasks, tools or forms of expertise."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-human-ai-collaboration-benchmarks"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "In a staggered deployment to 5,172 customer-support agents, AI assistance increased issues resolved per hour by 15% on average, with much larger gains among less experienced and lower-skill workers.",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "The study concerns one firm, occupation and AI assistant; the magnitude and distribution of gains may differ in other work.",
      "locator": "Abstract and Introduction",
      "source_id": "RS-5512E42A86444868ED6F"
    },
    {
      "claim": "The customer-support study reported that less experienced and lower-skill workers improved across productivity measures, while the most experienced and highest-skill workers saw little productivity gain and a small decline in conversation quality.",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Worker skill was measured within the studied support environment; the pattern should not be generalized to every expert or every AI system.",
      "locator": "Introduction, heterogeneity results and conclusion",
      "source_id": "RS-5512E42A86444868ED6F"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A team reports one average AI productivity gain and is considering the same workflow for novices and experts."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Do not label people permanently as low- or high-skill from one metric. The cited pattern comes from one customer-support setting and may reverse for other tasks, tools or forms of expertise."
  ],
  "example": "A support copilot may help a new consultant draft a technically complete first response while making a senior consultant slower if they must remove generic wording and restore context-specific judgment.",
  "check": "The rollout decision can show who improved, who did not, and whether any group traded quality for speed.",
  "checklist": [
    "Define experience or baseline-performance groups before reading the result.",
    "Measure speed and quality separately for each group.",
    "Inspect whether review burden also changes by group.",
    "Look for a quality loss among strong performers even when the overall average improves.",
    "Allow different AI defaults, permissions or review rules when the evidence supports them."
  ],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-5512E42A86444868ED6F"
  ],
  "published_at": "2026-10-01T14:27:00Z",
  "editorial_overlay": null,
  "editorial": null,
  "notices": [],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-5512E42A86444868ED6F",
      "title": "Generative AI at Work",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjae044"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9188",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9187",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/benchmark-human-plus-ai-against-the-stronger-solo-mode"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-5D6E88D3E78C09BE1FBC",
      "title": "Prove the human-AI combination, not just the AI assist",
      "url": "/collections/prove-the-human-ai-combination-not-just-the-ai-assist"
    }
  ],
  "topic_hubs": [],
  "solution_packs": []
}