When ignorance induces reliance: The role of epistemic knowledge about generative AI in changing health-related decision-making

Today’s increasing and indiscriminate use of generative artificial intelligence to access science-related information is a serious cause for concern. Here, we investigated the role of knowledge about generative AI in individuals’ engagement with AI-generated science-related information. Specifically, we focused on the relationship between epistemic AI knowledge, regarding the features and construction processes that characterize AI output, and individuals’ likelihood of changing their dietary decisions following exposure to AI-generated content. Based on two consecutive online surveys with embedded performance tasks, Study I ( n = 500) and Study II ( n = 800) demonstrated that less epistemic AI knowledge and higher trust in generative AI significantly increase the likelihood of changing decisions and reasoning, often to align with the generative AI’s responses. People were also more likely to change their decision in the presence of information reliability cues such as two concordant generative AI responses, regardless of alignment with experts’ views or the presence of reliable sources.