Trust in AI vs. Human Recommendations Among Users with AI Training: A Pilot Study

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognized as a tool to improve decision-making. While the majority of experimental studies used business students to provide insights into how managers trust systems, less is known about the trust of users trained in AI technologies. This pilot study aimed to examine to what extent users trained in AI technologies trust the recommendations of an AI system compared to those of a manager. The participants were undergraduate IS students who had received training in AI technologies. They rated their trust in recommendations for four different decision-making tasks in human resources management. Our preliminary results indicate that participants had higher trust in manager recommendations compared to AI recommendations for HR decision-making tasks and required less time, suggesting a small-size effects. This study contributes to the literature by examining the trust of individuals with specific training in AI technologies in AI-driven decision-making.