Knowledge Complacency and Decision Support Systems

Decision support systems (DSS), which are often based on complex statistical, machine learning, and AI models, have increasingly become a core part of data analytics and sensemaking processes. Automation complacency - a state characterized by over-trust in intelligent systems - has the potential to result in catastrophic performance failure. An under-investigated factor in automation complacency research is the effect that DSS might have on human learning of domain concepts. In this paper, we perform a comparative analysis of two studies of users interacting with decision aids to understand how knowledge retention is affected by the competence and presentation of a DSS. Our results indicate that while humans have the opportunity to learn and internalize domain concepts while being supported by a DSS, features that make the DSS appear more competent, persuasive, or customizable may lead a user to form incorrect beliefs about a domain.