Framing AI as a Work Partner Creates an Illusion of Understanding_Study 2

This project investigates whether the involvement of artificial intelligence (AI) in professional work changes how much people think they understand how that work is done, and whether any increase in perceived understanding reflects an illusion of understanding rather than genuine knowledge. In the original study, participants read short scenarios describing professionals completing tasks in different ways (e.g., a human working alone, a human working with AI as a partner, or AI completing the work). In Study 2, we keep the same set of job scenarios and the same conditions that vary how AI is involved, but we strengthen measurement to distinguish subjective understanding from objective knowledge. After each scenario, participants provide (a) a rating of their perceived understanding of how the work is typically done and (b) a confidence rating in that judgment and (c) a profession-specific terms to account for individual knowledge. We will also examine whether these effects differ across cultural contexts by collecting data in multiple countries (United States, India, and Ghana).