Abstract
Innovation is increasingly collaborative , and practices such as collaborative prototyping stand to be improve d by advancements in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI). Yet little is known about how GAI can tackle the hurdles present in collaborative prototyping, such as stakeholder participation, knowledge transfer, and reliance on technical expertise. This case study of Toyota Research & Innovation’s explores how GAI facilitat es prototyping through the creation of boundary objects (BOs) . Findings reveal that GAI is seen as a cognitive collaborator, not just a tool. Furthermore, GAI -created BOs develop cognitive alignment during the prototyping process , broadening participation by offering domain -specific knowledge. By framing prototypes as a form of BO s this study highlights GAI's ability to enable tacit and explicit knowledge transfer, while discussing potential risks with integrating GAI in the collaborative process related to data security and interpreting generated outputs
Recommended Citation
Lunde, Arvid; Bergvall, Jonathan; and Mankevich, Vasili, "AI-Facilitated Boundary Objects Reconfiguring the Process of Collaborative Prototyping: The Case of Research & Innovation at Toyota" (2025). MCIS 2025 Proceedings. 22.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/mcis2025/22