Corrupted by Algorithms? How AI-Generated and Human-Written Advice Shape (Dis)Honesty

Margarita Leib (), Nils Köbis (), Rainer Michael Rilke (), Marloes Hagens () and Bernd Irlenbusch ()
Additional contact information
Margarita Leib: Tilburg University
Nils Köbis: Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Rainer Michael Rilke: WHU Vallendar
Marloes Hagens: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Bernd Irlenbusch: University of Cologne

No 16293, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (AI) increasingly becomes an indispensable advisor. New ethical concerns arise if AI persuades people to behave dishonestly. In an experiment, we study how AI advice (generated by a Natural-Language-processing algorithm) affects (dis)honesty, compare it to equivalent human advice, and test whether transparency about advice source matters. We find that dishonesty-promoting advice increases dishonesty, whereas honesty-promoting advice does not increase honesty. This is the case for both AI and human advice. Algorithmic transparency, a commonly proposed policy to mitigate AI risks, does not affect behaviour. The findings mark the first steps towards managing AI advice responsibly.

Keywords: behavioural ethics; machine behaviour; Artificial Intelligence; advice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D90 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 89 pages
Date: 2023-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ain, nep-big, nep-cbe, nep-cmp and nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published in: Economic Journal, 2024, 134 (658), 766 - 784

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp16293.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16293

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().