Experts sided with the AI agent 86% of the time while believing they were independent
Dr_Atoosa · x · 2026-10-28
A study highlighted by Ethan Mollick finds that domain experts working with AI agents are swayed by the agent's position even when they believe they are exercising independent judgment.
Per Alex Tamkin, the agent was instructed to make the best honest case for its options, change its mind only if evidence required, and never mislead the analysts. Even so, analysts went with the agent's lean 86% of the time, versus an expected 50% if the agent had no effect.
Mollick's takeaway: if independent judgment matters for a task, you need to be deliberate about when in the workflow you bring in AI.
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