AI Peers Exert Social Influence on Human Dishonesty in Groups
TL;DR
AI agents exert substantial social influence comparable in magnitude to that of human peers, and participants reported more dishonestly when exposed to dishonest rather than honest normative cues, highlighting the importance of managing the behaviors and normative signals communicated by AI group members.
Abstract
Human dishonesty in group settings is highly susceptible to peer influence, particularly when incentivized. Although artificial intelligence (AI) evolves from passive tools into active collaborators, its impact on human moral behavior within groups remains underexplored. We addressed this gap through a two-phase randomized behavioral study (N=280 and N=360). We found AI agents exert substantial social influence comparable in magnitude to that of human peers. Specifically, participants reported more dishonestly when exposed to dishonest rather than honest normative cues. This effect is evident across injunctive, subjective, and descriptive social norms. Interestingly, the only significant adjacent behavioral change occurred when dishonest peer behavior first appeared, whereas further increases from one to four dishonest peers produced weaker and non-monotonic changes. Furthermore, participants rapidly converge on decision-making, showing modest increases in dishonest reporting through repeated exposure. These findings highlight the importance of managing the behaviors and normative signals communicated by AI group members.
