Offloading Score: New Metric Measures AI Reliance via Counterfactuals
Diyi_Yang · x · 2026-09-02
Researchers introduce Offloading Score, a new metric to measure AI reliance by estimating the fraction of cognitive effort users delegate to AI tools.
Methodology & Findings:
- Counterfactual Simulation: The method estimates how a user would have completed a task without the tool to compute the fraction of steps saved.
- Validation: Validated through a controlled user study (n=40) with developers performing programming tasks using AI tools.
- Time Pressure Effect: The score detected significantly higher reliance in time-constrained settings (+43%, p=0.018), whereas usage-based and self-reported measures failed to distinguish conditions.
- Behavioral Insights: Higher reliance manifests as greater delegation of subtasks and more direct reuse of AI outputs.
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