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arXiv · 2607.11749

Playful AI in Professional Email: A Field Experiment on Tone and Recipient Engagement

Ziv Ben-Zion·Teddy Lazebnik
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Abstract

Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly reshaping workplace communication, yet whether AI-assisted writing changes how recipients actually behave, and through what channel, remains unknown. Here, in a randomized crossover field experiment, 121 employees across six companies sent work emails under three conditions over three weeks: unaided writing, GPT-5 rewriting in a playful tone, and GPT-5 rewriting in a professional tone. Across 16,880 emails, playful editing increased emotional positivity (B=+0.068, p<0.001), and professional editing decreased it (B=-0.041, p<0.001), yet neither condition directly altered open rates, reply rates, or response times. Instead, within-sender positivity strongly predicted both opening (OR=2.05) and replying (OR=3.32, p<0.001), a significant indirect pathway through which AI editing shaped behavior, in the absence of any direct effect. These findings suggest that AI-assisted communication shapes workplace engagement not through its use, but through the emotional tone of the language it produces.

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Ziv Ben-Zion, Teddy Lazebnik. 2026-07-13. Playful AI in Professional Email: A Field Experiment on Tone and Recipient Engagement. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.11749

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