# Study: AI access makes people stop saying 'I don't know'

> The Decoder reports a 3,000-person study found AI access cut 'I don't know' answers from 44% to 3% even when the AI was almost always wrong.

- **Topic**: Research
- **Published**: 2026-09-27T08:35:59.039Z
- **Canonical URL**: https://highsignal.sh/stories/study-ai-access-makes-people-stop-saying-i-dont-know-32a86544

## Why It Matters

The study links AI use to misplaced certainty: participants using AI reported more confidence while being correct only about a third as often as those without it.

## Key Findings & Analysis

### What the study found

The Decoder reports a study of more than 3,000 participants in which simply having access to AI answers nearly eliminated people's willingness to say 'I don't know.' In one experiment reported by The Decoder, that willingness dropped from 44 percent to 3 percent, even though the AI was almost always wrong. Participants who used AI felt more confident but were correct only about a third as often as those who did not use it, per The Decoder's account.

## Primary Sources & Citations

- [AI access makes people almost entirely unwilling to say "I don't know," study finds](https://the-decoder.com/ai-access-makes-people-almost-entirely-unwilling-to-say-i-dont-know-study-finds/) — *The Decoder* (Reporting)

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