Automation bias (AB)--the tendency to over-rely on automation--has been studied in various academic fields. [...] Of 13 821 retrieved papers, 74 met the inclusion criteria. User factors such as cognitive style, decision support systems (DSS), and task specific experience mediated AB, as did attitudinal driving factors such as trust and confidence. Environmental mediators included workload, task complexity, and time constraint, which pressurized cognitive resources.
How this was checked
Over-reliance on automated decision aids
Verified · last checked Settled, with the evidence a claim at this level needs.
People who use an automated decision aid tend to over-rely on it, which is called automation bias. When the aid is imperfect, this produces errors of commission, following advice that is wrong, and errors of omission, missing a problem the aid did not flag. It has been found in novices and experts alike, and in individuals as well as teams. A systematic review of 74 studies found workload, task complexity and time constraint among the environmental factors that mediate it, and a later systematic review of 40 studies found it associated with the cognitive load of the decision task rather than with multitasking alone.
At a glance
The statement laid out, in its own words. The statement above and its sources are what count.
What it is
- The tendency to over-rely on automation
- Errors of commission: following the aid's wrong advice
- Errors of omission: missing what the aid did not flag
Who it affects
- Novices and experts alike
- Individuals and teams
What it goes with
- Workload, task complexity and time constraint, among environmental mediators (74 studies)
- The cognitive load of the decision task, not only multitasking (40 studies)
Where the book relies on it
- The AI Act at Work: Hiring and Managing People with AI, What your HR people and managers need to know. About The AI Act at Work: Hiring and Managing People with AI
- The AI Act at Work: Hiring and Managing People with AI, The person who signs off has no time. About The AI Act at Work: Hiring and Managing People with AI
- Kind of evidence
- scholarlySettled by a peer-reviewed source, quoted below with the day it was read.
The evidence
Automation complacency occurs under conditions of multiple-task load, when manual tasks compete with the automated task for the operator's attention. [...] Automation bias results in making both omission and commission errors when decision aids are imperfect. Automation bias occurs in both naive and expert participants, cannot be prevented by training or instructions, and can affect decision making in individuals as well as in teams.
Automation bias (AB) happens when users become overreliant on decision support, which reduces vigilance in information seeking and processing. [...] Contrary to the prevailing human factors view, AB was found in single tasks, typically involving diagnosis rather than monitoring, and with high verification complexity. [...] AB appears to be associated with the degree of cognitive load experienced in decision tasks, and appears to not be uniquely associated with multitasking.
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