While Generative AI is believed to impact societies, organizations, and work, little is known about how ChatGPT is experienced by early users and its impact on their work practices for knowledge work. This is concerning as ChatGPT is exactly the opposite of many of the technological systems studied before - it is decentralized (from an organizational perspective), multipurpose, and open-ended, and it is more autonomous by creating new syntactic content. Building on an explorative interview study with 31 early adopters, we identified different use types for ChatGPT. Thereupon, we theorize a phase model of experiencing Generative AI use as an emotional process. The exploratory insights challenge the information systems field to rethink the passive role of technology to which ‘users’ delegate subtasks toward a collaborative role with AI as a teammate or colleague. Finally, we observe worker-system intertwinement, and we discuss its potential consequences on the level of the individual, organization, and even society.
From Playmate to assistant; User experiences of integrating ChatGPT into knowledge work (2023), J Retkowsky, E Hafermalz, M Huysman, International Conference on Information Systems Proceedings