(2020). We and It: An Interdisciplinary Review of the Experimental Evidence on Human-Machine InteractionMax Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper No. 20-15.
Today, humans interact with technology frequently and in a variety of settings. Their behavior in these interactions has attracted considerable research interest across several fields, with sometimes little exchange among them and seemingly inconsistent findings. Here, we review over 110 experimental studies on human-machine interaction. We synthesize the evidence from different disciplines, suggest ways to reconcile inconsistencies, and elaborate on political and societal implications. The reviewed studies show that people react to automated agents differently than to humans: They behave more rationally, and are less prone to emotional and social responses. We show that there are several factors which systematically impact the willingness to accept automated decisions: task context, performance expectations and the distribution of decision authority. That is, humans seem willing to (over-)rely on algorithmic support, yet averse to fully ceding their decision authority. These behavioral regularities need to be considered when deliberating the benefits and risks of automation.
Also published in: Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, Volume 99, August 2022, 101897
