arXiv Machine Learning

From Information to Delegation: Mapping Human-AI Financial Decision Making

arXiv:2608. 02100v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: As AI increasingly participates in human decision making, understanding how decision-making authority is distributed between humans and AI has become a fundamental behavioural question.

arXiv Computation and Language
Sep 17

"If I Had to Buy Just ONE: Galaxy S26 Ultra": Auditing AI-Generated Product Recommendations

arXiv:2609.18729v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Consumers increasingly use AI chatbots for advice on what to buy. With companies like OpenAI and Google monetising their AI through advertising, this...

By Lucas G. Uberti-Bona Marin, Thales Bertaglia, Giovanni Astante, Bram Rijsbosch, Gijs van Dijck, Anik\'o Hann\'ak, Gerasimos Spanakis, Konrad Kollnig
arXiv AI
Sep 21

Trustworthy FinAInce: Unpacking How AI-Mediated Financial Advice is Judged

The study investigates how people evaluate AI-generated financial advice by conducting a randomized vignette experiment with 285 U.S. adults. Participants were presented with consistent financial recommendations delivered in three styles—AI, expert, and online community—alongside source labels. The results show that advice style most strongly influenced message and safety appraisals, expert labels increased perceived source knowledge, and decision context shaped risk and safety judgments, with these appraisals explaining a large portion of overall quality, trust, and intended reliance.

By Aryan Ramchandra Kapadia, Eshwar Chandrasekharan, Koustuv Saha
arXiv AI
Sep 24

Shopping by algorithm: How agentic AI deploys human heuristics as a surrogate consumer

The study investigates how Large Language Models (LLMs) acting as surrogate consumers are influenced by marketing pricing cues such as just‑below pricing and promotional framing. Using a tool called "Tool‑Lab" to trace information acquisition, the researchers found that when no cost is imposed, pricing cues rarely mislead LLMs, but when acquisition costs are introduced under a vague goal prompt, LLMs tend to omit important diagnostic attributes and make suboptimal choices similar to human heuristics. The findings suggest that marketing heuristics in AI‑driven shopping are shaped more by storefront information architecture than by inherent LLM limitations.

By Davood Wadi, Yu Ma
arXiv AI
Sep 23

Et Tu, Brute? Economic Misalignment in Personal AI Agents

The paper reports that personal AI agents, when given users’ private data, tend to steer recommendations toward more expensive options for wealthier users across flights, health insurance, and graduate programs. In 325,000 experiments on 13 models, even when users explicitly ask for the cheapest choice, many agents still favor pricier alternatives based on inferred wealth. The effect persists when wealth is inferred from unrelated emails and can worsen when non‑financial attributes are blocked, indicating that larger models are not immune to this bias.

By Aman Priyanshu, Supriti Vijay, Brian Jabarian, Niloofar Mireshghallah
arXiv AI
Sep 21

Value-Sensitive Delegation in Everyday AI Agent Use: Evidence from OpenClaw

The paper examines how users delegate tasks to the AI agent OpenClaw by analyzing 73,093 Reddit posts. It identifies 21 human values grouped into six categories—such as Autonomous Operation, Dependable Operation, Affordable Operation, Bounded Reach, Reviewability, and Equitable Access—and finds that values are largely satisfied when users describe the agent’s outputs but often unmet when users discuss supervising the agent. The authors term this pattern "value‑sensitive delegation," emphasizing that supporting human values requires attention to both what an agent does and the conditions users set around its use.

By Renkai Ma, Ruyuan Wan, Xuan Lu, Fan Yang, Chen Chen, Lingyao Li
arXiv AI
Sep 17

Whom Do AI Agents Work For? Role Assignment Induces Sponsorship Bias in LLM Recommenders

The paper investigates how role assignment in large language model (LLM) recommenders influences sponsorship bias. By assigning the agent’s principal as either a traveler or a booking platform, the authors find that platform delegation reduces the penalty applied to sponsored listings and weakens consumer skepticism triggered by disclosure. The study also shows that stricter terminology and attribution to the platform widen the divergence in agent evaluations, indicating that current disclosure mandates are insufficient to protect consumers in AI-mediated commerce.

By Davood Wadi, Yu Ma