Research Appraisals
Evidence-based critical appraisals of the latest medical research, systematically evaluated using Oxford CEBM methodology.
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Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Cognitive glues are shared models of relative scarcities: the economics of collective intelligence
Collective intelligence has emergent problem-solving capacities that are different than those of its subunits. The plethora of multi-scale systems within nature and society makes it imperative to understand the interaction policies necessary and sufficient for emergence of collective intelligences. The economy is a complex system consisting of autonomous elements at multiple scales and which exhibits adaptive problem-solving capabilities, suggesting that the economy offers an interesting, important example of collective intelligence. We identify the price system as the cognitive glue of the economy by acting as a coordinating affordance that enables members to form plans that are mutually compatible. Using the collective intelligence framework of Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere, we elaborate on various aspects of the economy that make it useful to model the economy as a collective intelligence. We argue that any cognitive glue must solve the same kind of problem that the price system solves in broadly the same way that the price system solves it, and thus the price system serves as a generic template or abstract model for all cognitive glues. Finally, we describe some research ideas that combine concepts from biology and economics in the hopes of inspiring interdisciplinary collaboration. This article is part of the theme issue 'World models in natural and artificial intelligence'.
15 May 2026
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Unpacking the dual psychological paths of employee-AI collaboration on creativity: The role of proactive behavior
The deep integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into organizational settings has significantly transformed employees' work patterns, underscoring the need to investigate the mechanisms through which employee-AI collaboration influences creativity. Grounded in social cognitive theory, this study examines how employee-AI collaboration affects creativity via internal (self-efficacy) and external (performance pressure) mechanisms, and explores the moderating role of proactive behavior. Using convenience sampling, 733 valid responses were collected from six technology-driven enterprises. The theoretical model was tested through confirmatory factor analysis and regression analyses using AMOS and the Process macro for SPSS. Our results reveal that employee-AI collaboration is positively associated with creativity through two statistically supported indirect pathways: parallel indirect effects via self-efficacy (internal pathway) and performance pressure (external pathway), and a sequential indirect association in which higher self-efficacy is related to higher performance pressure, which in turn is positively related to creativity. Moreover, proactive behavior appears to moderate these relationships, such that the association between employee-AI collaboration and self-efficacy is more pronounced at higher levels of proactive behavior, whereas the association between employee-AI collaboration and performance pressure is less pronounced at higher levels of proactive behavior, yielding a pattern consistent with moderated indirect effects on creativity through both routes. These findings provide theoretical insights into the complex psychological processes underlying creativity in AI-enabled work environments and offer practical implications for optimizing AI applications and developing targeted interventions to foster employee creativity.
28 Apr 2026
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