AI-related placebo effects lead users to overestimate their own abilities while or after being assisted by an AI¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Participants estimated their task performance as higher when told they were receiving AI support, even though the support was illusory. → Skulmowski 2024

Evidence¶

Skulmowski 2024¶

Skulmowski, A. (2024). Placebo or Assistant? Generative AI Between Externalization and Anthropomorphization. Educational Psychology Review, 36, 58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09894-x

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

The essay reports, citing Kosch et al. (2023), a study in which "participants estimated their task performance in a word puzzle task as higher when told to be receiving AI support". No effect size is printed in the essay.

"Examples for this type of placebo effect include a study in which participants estimated their task performance in a word puzzle task as higher when told to be receiving AI support (Kosch et al., 2023)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Users alter expectations and behavior based on perceived AI capabilities even when actual AI performance is unchanged (the placebo effect of AI) — a broader claim this one bears on
• People overestimate how much mental effort AI assistance alleviates (offloading illusion), driven by overestimating the effort of independent completion while AI-assisted effort is accurately estimated — related
• AI support can improve task performance while weakening users' metacognitive accuracy and leaving their own reasoning unimproved — related
• People significantly underestimate AI-assisted completion times on simple cognitive tasks, even though AI assistance saves little or no actual time (the speedup illusion) — related
• Generative AI tools risk inducing overestimated abilities and diminishing training of foundational skills — a broader claim this one bears on