Course content

AI on the Team for Verdiskolen is a practical and research-based continuing and further education course on how artificial intelligence can be used responsibly and to create value in leadership and teamwork. The course is not only about which AI tools are available, but about how AI affects trust, roles, decisions, psychological safety, team dynamics and the organisation’s values. Through three sessions, participants develop a concrete implementation plan and AI contract for their own department or team. The aim is to enable participants to use AI as a critical, creative and responsible collaborator in their everyday work.

The course provides participants with research-based and practical insight into how artificial intelligence can be used as a resource in teams, leadership and organisational development. The course pays particular attention to how AI can become a constructive part of the work community, not only as an efficiency tool, but also as support for reflection, decision-making, learning, creativity and team development.

A central premise of the course is that good use of AI is not only about technology, but also about values, trust, roles, power, responsibility and interaction. Participants therefore work with questions such as: Why should we use AI? What should AI be used for? How does AI affect team dynamics? Who should AI "be" for us? When should AI take on different roles, and when should humans hold back?

The course is based on practical leadership and team challenges from the participants’ own working lives. During the course, participants will develop an implementation plan for the use of a selected AI solution in their own department or team. They will also test, further develop and critically reflect on how AI can be integrated into the team’s work in a responsible and values-based manner.

The course is organised around three main sessions:

Session 1: Why AI? Trust and mistrust in AI

This session addresses the history of technology and asks what is actually new about today’s AI. Participants work with trust, mistrust, technological expectations and moral dilemmas. Key topics include anthropomorphisation, the ELIZA effect, ethical dilemmas, Deckard’s dilemma, Asimov’s paradox, and how AI challenges or influences the organisation’s value universe. The session culminates in work on a preliminary AI contract for responsible use.

Session 2: What do we use AI for, and how do we use AI?

This session focuses on the practical use of AI in teams and leadership. Participants work with how AI can contribute to efficiency, quality, learning and self-interest, but also how AI can be used in unhealthy or ineffective ways. Key topics include the AI ladder, AI as a team role, AI as a team coach, and the risk that AI is used as a dictator, prop or saviour. Emphasis is placed on how AI affects team dynamics, and how leaders can use this constructively.

Session 3: Who should AI be for us, and when do we give AI different roles?

The third session focuses on role allocation, psychological safety and responsible interaction with AI. Participants explore how AI can be used as a provocateur, sparring partner, decision support, coach or critical challenger. The session also addresses when AI should be allowed to influence decisions, and when human judgement, values and responsibility must be decisive. The concepts of AI awareness and team awareness are used to analyse maturity in the team’s use of AI.

Learning outcome

After completing the course, the student/participant will have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student has:

• knowledge of key opportunities, limitations and dilemmas associated with the use of AI in leadership, teamwork and organisational development
• knowledge of how AI can affect team roles, team dynamics, decision-making processes and psychological safety
• an understanding of the relationship between AI use, values, trust, responsibility and organisational culture
• familiarity with relevant concepts such as anthropomorphisation, the ELIZA effect, AI contract, AI ladder, AI awareness and team awareness
• knowledge of different forms of appropriate and inappropriate AI use, including AI as collaborator, dictator, prop, saviour, provocateur and team coach

Skills

The student can:

• analyse their own organisation, department or team with regard to opportunities and barriers for responsible AI use
• develop a practical implementation plan for the use of AI in their own team or department
• use AI tools to support reflection, meeting preparation, problem-solving, creativity, learning and decision support
• critically assess when AI should be used, how AI should be used, and which roles AI should be given in specific work processes
• develop and apply a simple AI contract that regulates expectations, boundaries and responsibilities in the team’s use of AI
• facilitate psychological safety and critical reflection in teams that adopt AI

General competence

The student can:

• critically reflect on how AI affects the leadership role, the employee role and interaction in teams
• communicate opportunities, risks and dilemmas associated with AI use in a clear and values-based manner
• contribute to responsible, ethical and learning-oriented AI use in their own organisation
• understand AI use as a social, organisational and values-based practice, not only as technological efficiency improvement
• develop a conscious and mature practice for how AI can become a constructive resource "on the team"

Learning methods and activities

The course is delivered as a session-based continuing and further education course with a combination of:

• lectures
• dialogue-based teaching
• practical AI exercises
• reflection assignments
• group work
• work on cases from the participants’ own organisations
• testing of AI tools between sessions
• development of an implementation plan and AI contract
• experience sharing and supervision

Strong emphasis is placed on the connection between theory and practice. Participants are expected to work actively with their own leadership or team context throughout the course.

Compulsory assignments

• Mandatory activities

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

It is recommended that participants have some experience from leadership, teamwork, project work, HR, organisational development or other practice in which collaboration and decision-making are central.

No technical competence or programming experience is required.

Required previous knowledge

No formal prerequisites beyond general university admission certification or admission to continuing and further education at NTNU.

Course materials

Course materials will consist of:

• selected research articles on AI, teams, leadership, psychological safety and human-AI collaboration
• practical guides and exercises in AI use
• cases and assignments linked to the participants’ own organisations
• possible book/compendium material on AI-enhanced team development

Suggested main literature:

Heldal, F. AI-enhanced team development / AI on the Team — manuscript or compendium if available.