Heterogeneous preferences and asymmetric insights for AI use among welfare claimants and non-claimants

Mengchen Dong, Jean-François Bonnefon () and Iyad Rahwan ()
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Mengchen Dong: Max Planck Institute for Human Development - Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Jean-François Bonnefon: TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Iyad Rahwan: Max Planck Institute for Human Development - Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

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Abstract: The deployment of AI in welfare benefit allocation accelerates decision-making but has led to unfair denials and false fraud accusations. In the US and UK (N = 3,249), we examine public acceptability of speed-accuracy trade-offs among claimants and non-claimants. While the public generally tolerates modest accuracy losses for faster decisions, claimants are less willing to accept AI in welfare systems, raising concerns that using aggregate data for calibration could misalign policies with the preferences of those most affected. Our study further uncovers asymmetric insights between claimants and non-claimants. Non-claimants overestimate claimants' willingness to accept speed-accuracy trade-offs, even when financially incentivized for accurate perspective-taking. This suggests that policy decisions aimed at supporting vulnerable groups may need to incorporate minority voices beyond popular opinion, as non-claimants may not easily understand claimants' perspectives. This work highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement and transparent communication in government deployment of AI, particularly in power-imbalanced contexts.

Date: 2025-09
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