Human-Like and Male? How AI Assistant Design Relates to Trust and Monetary Reward atWork in VR

AI assistants are increasingly framed as digital coworkers rather
than tools. In immersive settings such as VR, AI embodiment design
choices can become salient social signals that shape human–AI
interaction. We investigate how such choices influence users’ perceptions
of and behavior toward AI coworkers by employing three
functionally identical AI assistants varying in human-likeness and
gender presentation. In a controlled study, 189 knowledge workers
completed work tasks with them, provided ratings, and allocated
monetary rewards; we additionally interviewed 34 participants.
Our results show differences in reward allocation: more humanlike
assistants were paid more, and the female-presenting assistant
was perceived as less human-like and rewarded less than the malepresenting
counterpart. Yet, in interviews, many participants stated
a preference for non-human-like assistants and that gender was
irrelevant. We discuss how participants’ stated preferences relate
to their evaluations and reward allocation behavior, and the implications
of these findings for AI embodiment choices in workplace
contexts.