Self-reported everyday cognitive failure is not associated with AI attitudes or perceived AI competence

Abstract The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked debate about its implications for human cognition. One possibility is that individuals who experience more frequent cognitive failures in everyday life may develop more positive attitudes toward AI because AI can serve as a compensatory tool in daily life. At the same time, habitual reliance on AI may promote cognitive outsourcing, with possible long-term consequences for cognitive functioning. Against this background, the present study examined the associations between self-reported cognitive failures, perceived AI competence, positive attitudes toward AI, and personal enhancement by AI in a sample of N = 295. Establishing associations between cognitive failures and AI attitudes might provide a ground for the ideas of cognitive outsourcing to AI or compensatory AI use. Self-reported cognitive failures were unrelated to all AI-related variables, although the AI measures themselves were robustly intercorrelated. Bayesian analyses provided moderate evidence for the absence of associations with positive AI attitudes and personal enhancement by AI, while evidence for perceived AI competence remained inconclusive. The findings provide first insights into a timely question and highlight the need for future experimental and behavioral research on AI use and cognitive functioning.