On the afternoon of June 25, 2024, the China Special Economic Zone Research Center of Shenzhen University held the 69th Theoretical Economics Doctoral Salon in Conference Room 1500 of Huiwen Building. This salon invited Professor Li Xitong from the Department of Information Systems of HEC Paris to give a lecture on "Human-AI Collaboration: A New Paradigm for Improving Service Quality and Customer Trust". The event was hosted by Professor Li Fan, Deputy Director of the Center, and some teachers and master and doctoral students participated in the event.
The main speaker of this event, Professor Li Xitong, mainly studies the economics of information and technology, social media, financial technology (FinTech), digital marketing, online education, and the collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. Professor Li's research results have been published in ACM/IEEE journals such as Management Science, Information Systems Research, Management Information Systems Quarterly, Production and Operations Management, and Journal of Management Information Systems. His research has been funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR AAPG) for 2018-2023 and the Hi! PARIS Research Fund for 2021-2025.
Before the lecture began, Professor Li Fan, deputy director of the center, introduced the holding of the Theoretical Economics Doctoral Salon on behalf of the center, and expressed the hope that through such small salon activities, students and speakers can have more in-depth, face-to-face, and free exchanges and discussions. Professor Li Fan emphasized that Professor Li Xitong has both excellent academic resume and many years of research experience, and has in-depth analysis and experience in the field of human-AI collaboration.
Professor Li Xitong's lecture content includes: basic theories of artificial intelligence and human collaboration, field experimental research findings, and online experimental research findings. Professor Li first talked about the development and application of artificial intelligence technology, and introduced the current application of artificial intelligence in various fields and the role of humans in these applications. He emphasized that although pure artificial intelligence solutions have obvious advantages in efficiency and speed, the introduction of human collaboration can make up for the shortcomings of artificial intelligence in understanding complex social situations and emotional interactions.
Then, Professor Li shared the field experiment conducted by his team in cooperation with a large savings bank. The experiment compared the investment advice effects of pure AI and human-AI collaboration. Through research on the production side, it was found that when bankers were allowed to make the final decision on AI output, the quality of advice was not affected. Through research on the consumer side, it was found that customers were more inclined to accept advice provided by human-AI collaboration, especially when making higher-risk investment decisions. This dependence on collaborative advice translates into higher monetary returns. These findings show that introducing humans into AI-driven service production is essential to achieving AI efficiency improvements.
Later, in a supplementary online experiment, Professor Li Xitong's team further revealed the customer's dependence mechanism on human participation in investment advice generation. The key is that the persuasive effect of human-AI collaborative advice comes from the social impact on customers.
In the interactive communication session, teachers and students from the China Special Economic Zone Research Center of Shenzhen University had in-depth discussions with the keynote speakers on the application areas of AI and human collaboration, the mechanism for improving customer trust, and the future development trend of AI in financial technology. Professor Li answered everyone's questions from the perspectives of economic theory, application cases and experimental research experience.
This academic salon is rich in content, covering artificial intelligence technology, economic theory, experimental research methods and practical applications. It provides teachers and students of the center with a comprehensive perspective and innovative ideas combining theory and practice. It also encourages everyone to give full play to the vitality and creativity of young people and to forge ahead and innovate in future learning and research.
Correspondent: Feng Jianwei
