cs.AIApr 8, 2026

Trust the AI, Doubt Yourself: The Effect of Urgency on Self-Confidence in Human-AI Interaction

Authors: Baran Shajari, Xiaoran Liu, Kyanna Dagenais, Istvan David

Organizations: McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

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Abstract

Studies show that interactions with an AI system fosters trust in human users towards AI. An often overlooked element of such interaction dynamics is the (sense of) urgency when the human user is prompted by an AI agent, e.g., for advice or guidance. In this paper, we show that although the presence of urgency in human-AI interactions does not affect the trust in AI, it may be detrimental to the human user's self-confidence and self-efficacy. In the long run, the loss of confidence may lead to performance loss, suboptimal decisions, human errors, and ultimately, unsustainable AI systems. Our evidence comes from an experiment with 30 human participants. Our results indicate that users may feel more confident in their work when they are eased into the human-AI setup rather than exposed to it without preparation. We elaborate on the implications of this finding for software engineers and decision-makers.

Figures & tables

 Yang and Wibowo (2022)Afroogh et al. (2024)Nordheim et al. (2019)Seitz et al. (2022)
Used in our studyPredictability PredictabilityPredictability
Dependability   
Alignment*  Alignment*
  Ease of useEase of use*
 Transparency Transparency
Not used in our studyAbility  Ability
Table 1. Elements of trust in AI
Figure 1. Experiment Overview
Figure 2. Participants’ perception of trust in AI ( a ) and its elements ( b – f ) before (top) and after (bottom) a human-AI interactive experience ■\blacksquare Strongly disagree ■\blacksquare Disagree ■\blacksquare Neutral ■\blacksquare Agree ■\blacksquare Strongly agree
Figure 3. Changing trust attitudes of participants
Figure 4. Perception of interaction with the AI agent. (Likert items reasonably paraphrased for brevity.) ■\blacksquare Strongly disagree ■\blacksquare Disagree ■\blacksquare Neutral ■\blacksquare Agree ■\blacksquare Strongly agree
Figure 5. Perceived effects of time pressure on self-confidence ■\blacksquare Strongly disagree ■\blacksquare Disagree ■\blacksquare Neutral ■\blacksquare Agree ■\blacksquare Strongly agree
Figure 6. Attitude towards trust in the two groups before (top) and after (bottom) human-AI interaction ■\blacksquare Strongly disagree ■\blacksquare Disagree ■\blacksquare Neutral ■\blacksquare Agree ■\blacksquare Strongly agree
Figure 7. Perceived effects of time pressure on users’ interaction preference (Group 1 and 2) ■\blacksquare Strongly disagree ■\blacksquare Disagree ■\blacksquare Neutral ■\blacksquare Agree ■\blacksquare Strongly agree
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