Artificial Intelligence increases dishonesty in people by 15%

People are 15% more likely to lie because of AI, new research from the University of Cologne reveals.

The study, conducted by Professor Bernd Irlenbusch from University of Cologne, Professor Dr Nils Köbis, University of Duisburg Essen, and Professor Rainer Michael, WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, investigated whether AI advice which promotes dishonesty encourages us to be dishonest.

The findings revealed that AI-generated advice encouraging dishonesty significantly increases dishonest behavior, while advice promoting honesty has little to no effect.

In the study, participants completed a die-rolling task where they could earn more money by misreporting their result. Those who received advice encouraging dishonesty were significantly more likely to cheat, regardless of whether that advice came from a human or AI. However, advice which encouraged honesty did not affect their behaviour.

When AI encourages lying, people cheat more, and, crucially, even knowing the advice is from AI (algorithmic transparency) doesn’t stop them. In fact, it might even help them feel less guilty about it.

“As algorithmic transparency is insufficient to curb the corruptive force of AI, we hope that this work will highlight, for policymakers and researchers alike, the importance of dedicating resources to examining successful interventions that will keep humans honest in the face of AI advice,” says Professor Bernd Irlenbusch.

While both human and AI advisors can and do encourage us to lie, AI has the ability to do it at an infinitely faster pace, on a larger scale, and with an unclear level of accountability. Since transparency checks don’t always work, the researchers are making a call to action for social scientists to try to “mitigate [AI’s] corruptive force”.

The study was published in Economic Journal.


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For more information, a copy of the research, or to speak with Professor Irlenbusch, please contact Katie Hurley from BlueSky Education on khurley@bluesky-pr.com or +44 (0)1582 790708.