Quality of human-GenAI collaboration and its driving factors: A symbiotic agency perspective

Generative AI (GenAI) is increasingly integrated into users’ daily work as a collaborative partner. Drawing on the symbiotic agency theory, this study investigates the quality of human-GenAI collaboration using a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys. Study 1 identified three dimensions of human-GenAI collaboration quality that comprise outcome quality, comfort, and efficiency; and six driving factors which can be categorized under human agency (domain knowledge, desire for control, and domestication ability), and GenAI agency (communication ability, working memory, and long-term memory). Study 2 applied fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore configurations of the driving factors that lead to high collaboration quality. Four distinct configurations emerged: 1) Domain knowledge, domestication ability, communication ability, and working memory; 2) Domain knowledge, domestication ability, working memory, and long-term memory; 3) Domain knowledge, communication ability, working memory, and long-term memory; and 4) Domain knowledge, ∼desire for control, domestication ability, communication ability, and long-term memory. These results advance understanding of human-GenAI collaboration by highlighting critical configurations of human and GenAI agency that foster high-quality collaboration. The study offers actionable insights to enhance human-GenAI interactions by optimizing both human and GenAI capabilities.