Framing an AI with Values Reduces AI Reliance in AI-supported Writing Tasks

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that framing AI with specific values and comparing them to users' own can significantly reduce reliance on AI suggestions and promote more personalized writing in AI-supported tasks.

Contribution

The paper introduces a value-framing intervention that effectively decreases AI reliance and increases writing originality, highlighting the importance of value awareness in AI-assisted writing.

Findings

AI reliance decreased by 20% with value framing.

More unique text in essays when users viewed AI's values.

Value awareness encourages personalized writing.

Abstract

Despite a global user base adopting large language models (LLMs) for daily writing tasks, model suggestions tend to align with Western values. Research has shown users commonly accept a high fraction of these AI suggestions, homogenizing writing styles and rendering outputs more ``Western'' than intended. While this suggests a need to reduce AI reliance, it remains unknown what kind of interventions could achieve this. Can framing the AI with specific values, and comparing it to one's own, make users less susceptible to overreliance and support more unique writing? We tested this hypothesis in a between-subjects online experiment with Indian and American participants (n=149) in which they were asked to perform AI-supported writing tasks, either 1) without an intervention, 2) after seeing an overview of the AI's framed values, or 3) after seeing an overview of the AI's framed values compared to their own. Our results show that seeing the AI's framed values reduces AI reliance, i.e., the proportion of the final essay generated by the AI, by an average of 20\%. Additionally, when participants saw an overview of the AI's framed values (without comparison to their own values), the final essays contain more unique text than without intervention. Our findings emphasize the importance of educating users about potential value biases in AI, showing that raising awareness with a simple overview of values encourages users to personalize their writing.