Collaborative Document Editing with Multiple Users and AI Agents

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Authors: Florian Lehmann, Krystsina Shauchenka, Daniel Buschek
Cited by: 1
References: 83

Abstract

Current AI writing support tools are largely designed for individuals, complicating collaboration when co-writers must leave the shared workspace to use AI and then communicate and reintegrate results. We propose integrating AI agents directly into collaborative writing environments. Our prototype makes AI use visible to all users through two new shared objects: user-defined agent profiles and tasks. Agent responses appear in the familiar comment feature. In a user study (N=30), 14 teams worked on writing projects during one week. Interaction logs and interviews show that teams incorporated agents into existing norms of authorship, control, and coordination, rather than treating them as team members. Agent profiles were viewed as personal territory, while created agents and outputs became shared resources. We discuss implications for team-based AI interaction, highlighting opportunities and boundaries for treating AI as a shared resource in collaborative work.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Semantic Web and Ontologies Multi-Agent Systems and Negotiation

Publication details

Journal / source
Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher
ACM
Pages
1–27
Publication date
13 April 2026
Language
EN