TRAIL

Team Research and AI Integration Lab

Studying how humans and AI can work together as teammates — not just tools — to enhance innovation, creativity, and inclusion in collaborative problem-solving.

A research platform by the Language and Learning Analytics Lab at UC Irvine School of Education

Supported by: Jacobs Foundation CIFAR Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Spencer Foundation

Research Focus

Experimental Simulation of Team Processes

Scalable, replicable experiments on team cognition and decision-making. TRAIL enables RCT-style studies that vary task structure, group composition, and AI teammate behavior. These simulations produce rich datasets for studying innovation, bias, and socio-emotional regulation in teams.

Socio-Cognitive Dynamics & Discourse Analytics

Modeling the cognitive, emotional, and social processes of teamwork. We analyze team discourse using computational linguistics and learning analytics to identify markers of productive, inclusive, and adaptive collaboration. Findings inform real-time feedback systems that help humans and AI coordinate effectively.

AI Teammates for Inclusive Collaboration

Understanding how AI can foster equity, trust, and belonging in teamwork. Generative AI agents participate as teammates in controlled studies. By varying AI persona and communication style, we study how different behaviors influence participation balance, trust, and inclusion in mixed human–AI groups.

The TRAIL Platform

A comprehensive web application for managing AI-powered collaborative tasks and research studies.

  • Experiment Design Create, manage, and analyze human-AI collaboration experiments with flexible team structures
  • Configurable AI Teammates Design AI agents with customizable personalities, communication styles, and behavioral parameters
  • Real-time Collaboration Chat-based interface for synchronous team problem-solving with humans and AI
  • Analytics Dashboard Rich datasets and discourse analytics for studying team dynamics and outcomes

Interested in Using TRAIL?

We're looking for collaborators and research partners to explore human-AI teaming. Request a demo to see how TRAIL can support your research.

Request a Demo

About TRAIL

TRAIL (Team Research and AI Integration Lab) is a research platform developed by the Language and Learning Analytics Lab at UC Irvine School of Education.

Our mission is to understand how humans and AI can collaborate effectively as true teammates — moving beyond AI as mere tools to AI as active participants in creative problem-solving.

Through rigorous experimental methods and advanced analytics, we investigate the dynamics of human–AI teams to inform the design of more inclusive, innovative, and effective collaborative systems.

Our Team

NN

Dr. Nia Nixon

Associate Professor

School of Education, UC Irvine

Website
AS

M. Amin Samadi

Ph.D. Candidate

School of Education, UC Irvine

Website
SP

Seehee Park

Graduate Student

School of Education

JC

Jaeyoon Choi

Graduate Student

School of Education

SJ

Spencer JaQuay

Graduate Student

School of Education

PB

Pedro de Bastos

Graduate Student

School of Education

Get in Touch

Interested in our research or potential collaboration?

lalalab.ucied@gmail.com

Language and Learning Analytics Lab

UC Irvine, School of Education