In search of a Goldilocks zone for credible AI

If artificial intelligence (AI) is to help solve individual, societal and global problems, humans should neither underestimate nor overestimate its trustworthiness. Situated in-between these two extremes is an ideal ‘Goldilocks’ zone of credibility. But what will keep trust in this zone? We hypothesise that this role ultimately falls to the social cognition mechanisms which adaptively regulate conformity between humans. This novel hypothesis predicts that human-like functional biases in conformity should occur during interactions with AI. We examined multiple tests of this prediction using a collaborative remembering paradigm, where participants viewed household scenes for 30 s vs. 2 min, then saw 2-alternative forced-choice decisions about scene content originating either from AI- or human-sources. We manipulated the credibility of different sources (Experiment 1) and, from a single source, the estimated-likelihood (Experiment 2) and objective accuracy (Experiment 3) of specific decisions. As predicted, each manipulation produced functional biases for AI-sources mirroring those found for human-sources. Participants conformed more to higher credibility sources, and higher-likelihood or more objectively accurate decisions, becoming increasingly sensitive to source accuracy when their own capability was reduced. These findings support the hypothesised role of social cognition in regulating AI’s influence, raising important implications and new directions for research on human–AI interaction.

Self-referential encoding of source information in recollection memory

Information that is encoded in relation to the self has been shown to be better remembered, yet reports have disagreed on whether the memory benefit from self-referential encoding extends to source memory (the context in which information was learned). In this study, we investigated the self-referential effect on source memory in recollection and familiarity-based memory. Using a Remember/Know paradigm, we compared source memory accuracy under self-referential encoding and semantic encoding. Two types of source information were included, a “peripheral” source which was not inherent to the encoding activity, and a source information about the encoding context. We observed the facilitation in item memory from self-referential encoding compared to semantic encoding in recollection but not in familiarity-based memory. The self-referential benefit to source accuracy was observed in recollection memory, with source memory for the encoding context being stronger in the self-referential condition. No significant self-referential effect was observed with regards to peripheral source information (information not required for the participant to focus on), suggesting not all source information benefit from self-referential encoding. Self-referential encoding also resulted in a higher ratio of “Remember/Know” responses rate than semantically encoded items, denoting stronger recollection. These results suggest self-referential encoding creates a richer, more detailed memory trace which can be recollected later on.

Examining the relationship between processing fluency and memory for source information

Familiarity-based processes such as processing fluency can influence memory judgements in tests of item recognition. Many conventional accounts of source memory assume minimal influence of familiarity on source memory, but recent work has suggested that source memory judgements are affected when test stimuli are processed with greater fluency as a result of priming. The present experiments investigated the relationship between fluency and the accuracy of source memory decisions. Participants studied words presented with different source attributes. During test, they identified words that gradually clarified on screen through progressive demasking, made old/new and source memory judgements, and reported confidence ratings for those words. Response times (RTs) recorded from the item identification task formed the basis of a fluency measure, and identification RTs were compared across categories of item recognition, source accuracy and confidence. Identification RTs were faster in trials with correct retrieval of source information compared with trials for which source could not be accurately retrieved. These findings are consistent with the assumption that familiarity-based processes are related to source memory judgements.

Anger Increases Susceptibility to Misinformation

The effect of anger on acceptance of false details was examined using a three-phase misinformation paradigm. Participants viewed an event, were presented with schema-consistent and schema-irrelevant misinformation about it, and were given a surprise source monitoring test to examine the acceptance of the suggested material. Between each phase of the experiment, they performed a task that either induced anger or maintained a neutral mood. Participants showed greater susceptibility to schema-consistent than schema-irrelevant misinformation. Anger did not affect either recognition or source accuracy for true details about the initial event, but suggestibility for false details increased with anger. In spite of this increase in source errors (i.e., misinformation acceptance), both confidence in the accuracy of source attributions and decision speed for incorrect judgments also increased with anger. Implications are discussed with respect to both the general effects of anger and real-world applications such as eyewitness memory.

Self-referential encoding of source information in recollection memory

Self-referential memory encoding has been previously shown to enhance memory. The self-referential facilitation effect has also been found in source memory (memory with contextual details). In this study, we investigated how subjective recollection interacts with the self-referential effect for source memory. Using a remember/know paradigm, we compared source memory accuracy under self-referential encoding and semantic encoding. Two types of source information were included, a “peripheral” source which was not inherent to the encoding activity, and a source information about the encoding context. SRE benefits on source memory accuracy were observed in recollection for both types of source information, but not in familiarity-based memory. In contrast, for familiarity-based memory, semantic encoding resulted in higher source accuracy for the background source compared to self-referential encoding. These results suggest self-referential encoding creates a richer, more detailed memory trace which can be recollected later on.