AI Recommendations and Non-instrumental Image Concerns

Abstract

There is growing enthusiasm about the potential for humans and AI to collaborate by leveraging their respective strengths. Yet in practice, this promise often falls short. This paper uses an online experiment to identify non-instrumental image concerns as a key reason individuals underutilize AI recommendations. I show that concerns about how one is perceived, even when those perceptions carry no monetary consequences, lead participants to disregard AI advice and reduce task performance.

Keywords: Human-AI Interaction, AI Recommendations, Behavioral and Experimental Economics, Stigma, Image Concerns

JEL Classification: C91, D81, D91, M52