Study finds AI access nearly eliminates ‘I don’t know’ responses

Participants with AI access drastically reduced their willingness to say ‘I don’t know.’ In the first two studies, those without AI withheld judgment on 36 and 44 percent of questions, but with AI access, those numbers dropped to 6 and 3 percent. Confidence surged: without incentives, confidence scores rose from 29.6 to 75.9 on a 100-point scale, but correct answers fell from 27.6 to 10.0 percent. Across all studies, participants with AI access answered 9.2 percent of questions correctly—less than a third of the 27.5 percent without AI. Financial incentives (10 cents for correct answers, 10 cents deducted for errors) reduced AI reliance slightly but did not reverse the trend. Even when AI answers appeared automatically—mirroring real-world search and assistant behaviors—the effect persisted, with judgment suspension dropping from 35 to 1 percent without incentives.

The researchers warn of ‘Epistemia,’ the tendency to accept AI answers uncritically, noting that models never pause to acknowledge uncertainty. They cite broader studies showing AI use weakens critical thinking and metacognitive skills, with higher education acting as a protective factor. The findings suggest AI’s ubiquity may erode human judgment, particularly when models dominate interactions without clear limits.