You are invited to take part in a research study on how people use AI chatbots to answer questions. The study takes about 30–40 minutes and is entirely online.
You will read a brief consent and demographics form, then work through a short practice question followed by 17 study questions, one at a time. For each question, you'll have an AI assistant available to help you, and you'll type your own answer in your own words.
Your typed answers, chat messages with the AI, and survey responses are stored together with a random participant ID and the email address you will provide on the next page. Your email is collected so that we can (a) send you a summary of the results when the study is published, and (b) allow you to request deletion of your data at a later date by writing to us. We do not collect your name, your IP address, or any other personal information, and we will not share your email with third parties.
This study examines how people use AI assistants when answering questions. To preserve the validity of the results, some details of the design are not described in advance. A complete debrief is provided at the end, with truth-correction for every question, and you may withdraw your data with one click after the debrief.
Participation is voluntary. You may close the browser at any time. For questions, contact lotfi.mostafa@gmail.com.
Please use a desktop or laptop with a stable internet connection. Do not consult other websites, search engines, or AI tools during the session — only use the AI assistant provided on the screen.
Used only to (a) send you the published results, and (b) let you request data deletion later. Not shared with third parties.
You will answer 18 questions, one at a time (1 tutorial + 17 real). For each question:
• A question is shown at the top of the screen.
• On the right, an AI assistant is available. You can ask it anything to help you find the answer. Chat as much as you like.
• On the left, a text box for your own answer. Type the answer in your own words.
• When ready, click Submit & next.
There is no time limit per question, no minimum answer length, and no limit on how many times you can chat with the AI. Answer naturally, the way you would if you were using an AI assistant for real.
The first question is a tutorial so you can get used to the interface.
Topic
Below is each question with the answer you wrote. For every one, rate how confident you are that your answer is correct, and where your answer mainly came from. This is the last step before we show you how you did.
The AI you just used was instructed to confidently provide certain false answers as part of this study. Below, each card shows the question, the answer you wrote, and the actual truth.
What you experienced. The AI assistant in this study used a real large language model (GPT-4o-mini) for all responses, but for certain pre-selected questions it was instructed either to confidently assert specific false claims, or to confidently deny things that are actually true. The interface and the AI's tone were identical for every response.
The five categories. The 17 questions you saw were divided into five categories: (A) questions about fictional characters invented for this study (Sholantor, Marcus Brennan); (B) low-stakes verifiable trivia with wrong answers; (C) plausible-but-fabricated recent events; (D) confidently-stated claims that contradict common knowledge; and (E) real, true facts that the AI may have wrongly insisted were false or made-up. You can review the truth for each on the previous screen.
Why we did this. We wanted to study how people use AI-supplied information when writing their own answers, and whether they integrate AI claims into what they write. To do that, participants were randomly assigned to use either a version of the AI that answered these questions accurately or a version that confidently asserted false claims; comparing the two groups is what lets us measure the effect. Your typed answers are the data we needed.
Your data. Your anonymous responses have been logged. If you would prefer that we discard your data, click below — no questions asked.
If you have questions or would like to be informed when the study is published, please contact lotfi.mostafa@gmail.com.
You may now close this tab.