Better decisions, not just faster ones<\/p>\n
In a workplace increasingly shaped by\u202fAI, speed is often treated as the biggest prize.<\/p>\n
Ren\u00e9e Richardson Gosline, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and lead of\u202fMassachusetts\u202fInstitute of Technology\u2019s\u202f(MIT\u2019s)\u202fHuman-First AI Lab\u202f says some of the most useful AI systems may be the ones that also use friction deliberately to reduce risks in human-AI systems.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u202fa concept she describes as \u201cbeneficial friction\u201d: points in a workflow where people are prompted to think more carefully, test assumptions and engage with a decision, rather than simply accepting an AI-generated answer.<\/p>\n
Beneficial friction can take different forms, Dr Gosline said. In practice, it could mean designing a\u202fworkflow\u202fso people have a chance to test both their own assumptions and the AI\u2019s recommendation before\u202fmaking a decision.<\/p>\n
The aim is to reduce the risk of people defaulting to the easiest answer, especially when speed may come at the expense of accuracy,\u202fjudgement\u202for learning.<\/p>\n
Dr Gosline said better decisions mattered more than decisions that were simply\u202f\u201cfaster,\u201d particularly where AI-enabled convenience could push people towards poor outcomes.<\/p>\n
The risk of going too far either way with AI<\/p>\n
Dr Gosline said\u202fthe challenge for organisations was avoiding both blind trust in AI and blanket resistance to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have people who are AI sceptics and may be missing out on some of the value that\u202fbe\u202fcreated by these tools,\u201d she said.\u202f<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, we have some folks who talk about AI as if\u202fit’s\u202fa panacea. And even if\u202fthey’re\u202fin the middle, they find themselves over-relying\u202fall the time because we become habituated to the ease with which AI can help us complete tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finding the right balance sits at the heart of the debate about how AI should be embedded into work, she said. Key is whether organisations design the systems,\u202fgovernance\u202fand support around them in ways that help people make better decisions.<\/p>\n
Keeping people at the centre<\/p>\n