AI advice is becoming increasingly popular, e.g., in investment and medical treatment decisions. As this advice is typically imperfect, decision-makers have to exert discretion as to whether actually follow that advice: they have to “appropriately” rely on correct and turn down incorrect advice. However, current research on appropriate reliance still lacks a common definition as well as an operational measurement concept. Additionally, no in-depth behavioral experiments have been conducted that help understand the factors influencing this behavior. In this paper, we propose Appropriateness of Reliance (AoR) as an underlying, quantifiable two-dimensional measurement concept. We develop a research model that analyzes the effect of providing explanations for AI advice. In an experiment with 200 participants, we demonstrate how these explanations influence the AoR, and, thus, the effectiveness of AI advice. Our work contributes fundamental concepts for the analysis of reliance behavior and the purposeful design of AI advisors.
Latest posts by Ryan Watkins (see all)
- Exploring Student Behaviors and Motivations using AI TAs with Optional Guardrails - April 16, 2025
- AI-University: An LLM-based platform for instructional alignment to scientific classrooms - April 15, 2025
- Interaction-Required Suggestions for Control, Ownership, and Awareness in Human-AI Co-Writing - April 14, 2025