{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T10:49:27Z","timestamp":1782989367152,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"IOS Press","isbn-type":[{"value":"9781643686707","type":"electronic"}],"license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782950400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Much research on LLMs has focused on increasing benchmark performance. However, the evaluation of such models in real-world collaborative human\u2013AI workflows has stayed behind. This work evaluates a chatbot-style assistant based on Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) in a realistic multi-turn information-seeking scenario inspired by workplace settings where compliance with local legislation and secure handling of sensitive data are often key. Specifically, we examine the performance of humans (N=112) assisted by RAG-assistants compared to LLM-only or LLM+RAG baselines. In this setting, we investigate how underlying model size (3B, 8B, and 70B) shapes the human-AI collaborative dynamic and how it influences perceived usability and satisfaction. Results show that the performance gain of human-AI collaboration over the model-only baselines is significant, irrespective of model size, suggesting that hybrid systems are beneficial in information-seeking scenarios. Interestingly, however, perceived usability and satisfaction among participants showed little difference across model sizes. This demonstrates a nuanced trade-off between model size, performance, and user perception. Our work highlights the added value of evaluating AI applications in actual multi-turn interactions with human users, looking at usability and satisfaction besides accuracy, rather than focusing on benchmark performance only.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3233\/faia260531","type":"book-chapter","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T09:57:44Z","timestamp":1782986264000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Seeking Information with RAG-Assistants: Does Model Size Matter in Human-AI Collaborations?"],"prefix":"10.3233","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-2061-9208","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lennard C.","family":"Froma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Leiden University - The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2480-4073","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tom","family":"Kouwenhoven","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leiden University - The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2775-8351","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maaike H.T.","family":"de Boer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"TNO - The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4780-7461","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Catholijn M.","family":"Jonker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leiden University - The Netherlands"},{"name":"TU Delft - The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0798-9598","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Max J.","family":"van Duijn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leiden University - The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"7437","container-title":["Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications","HHAI 2026"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/ebooks.iospress.nl\/pdf\/doi\/10.3233\/FAIA260531","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T09:57:45Z","timestamp":1782986265000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/ebooks.iospress.nl\/doi\/10.3233\/FAIA260531"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]]},"ISBN":["9781643686707"],"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3233\/faia260531","relation":{},"ISSN":["0922-6389","1879-8314"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0922-6389","type":"print"},{"value":"1879-8314","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]]}}}