AI and Self-Perception of Intelligence
November 18, 2025
Here is one way the AI industry is different from the rest of society: In that field, it is those who know the most who are overconfident. Inc. reports, “New Research Warns That AI Is Causing a ‘Reverse Dunning-Kruger Effect’.” A recent study asked 500 subjects to solve some tough logic problems. Half of them used an AI like ChatGPT to complete the tasks. Then they were asked to assess their own performances. That is where the AI experts fell short. Writer Jessica Stillman explains:
“Classic Dunning-Kruger predicts that those with the least skill and familiarity with AI would most overestimate their performance on the AI-assisted task. But that’s not what the researchers reported when they recently published their results in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. In fact, it was the participants who were the most knowledgeable and experienced with AI who overestimated their skills the most. ‘We would expect people who are AI literate to not only be a bit better at interacting with AI systems, but also at judging their performance with those systems—but this was not the case,’ commented study co-author Robin Welsch. ‘We found that when it comes to AI, the DKE vanishes. In fact, what’s really surprising is that higher AI literacy brings more overconfidence.’”
Is this why AI leaders are a bit over the top? This would explain a lot. To make matters worse, another report found the vast majority of users do not double check AIs’ results. We learn:
“One recent analysis by trendspotting company Exploding Topics found an incredible 92 percent of people don’t bother to check AI answers. This despite all the popular models still being prone to hallucinations, wild factual inaccuracies, and sycophantic behavior that fails to push back against user misunderstandings or errors.”
So neither AI nor the people who use it can be trusted to produce accurate results. Good to know, as the tech increasingly underpins everything we do.
Cynthia Murrell, November 18, 2025
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