A study reveals that the use of Generative AI (GenAI) affects user confidence.

The study, titled “Generative Artificial Intelligence Reliance and Executive Function Attenuation: Behavioral Evidence of Cognitive Offload in High-Use Adults,” was published by the American Psychological Association. It recruited 1,923 working adults through professional networks, online forums, LinkedIn outreach, and direct invitations. Participants came from sectors including technology, consulting, finance, and healthcare, and were asked to complete a survey for research purposes.

“This recruitment strategy was intended to sample individuals for whom GenAI tools are already embedded in everyday professional workflow,” the survey read.

The study also noted that participants had no restrictions on prompt content, iteration, or editing, and were able to engage with any language model systems to complete tasks such as “prioritizing competing projects under constraints, developing plans with incomplete or evolving information, revising solutions after the introduction of new constraints, interpreting ambiguous data, and articulating reasoning behind strategic decisions,” the study read.

The study also explored confidence in one’s own reasoning when using GenAI. Those who accepted AI’s suggestions and made little revisions reported lessened self-confidence in independent reasoning. However, those who had made more modifications to AI suggestions reported more self-confidence in independent reasoning.

“If the AI solves a problem for you, you don’t think and you don’t learn,” said Ethan Mollick, an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who studies AI and work, according to Time.

“If you make AI act like a tutor and push people, you get improved outcomes,” he added.

The study stated that AI on its own is not associated with increased confidence, but instead, the association is with how participants interact with AI-generated output.

“These findings suggest that perceived autonomy and authorship may be shaped more by patterns of oversight and engagement than by the presence of AI assistance per se,” the study noted.

Sarah Baldeo, a PhD candidate in AI and neuroscience at Middlesex University in England and the author of the study, also told Time, “Generative AI can lead to cognitive decline or cognitive evolution — it depends on your interaction style. When we look at brain activity contingent on how people choose to use the tool, we can see increases or decreases. It really doesn’t have to do with the tool itself.”