AI Washing Inflates Expected Performance but Not Interaction Outcomes: An AI Placebo Study Using Fitts' Law

ArXi:2605.00582v1 Announce Type: cross Expectations about the of artificial intelligence (AI) may influence interaction outcomes similar to placebos. Such expectations may result from AI washing, a practice of overstating a system's AI capabilities when actual functionality is limited. For example, some computer mice are marketed as "AI-assisted" despite lacking AI in core functions. In a within-subjects study, 28 participants completed Fitts' Law tasks with a computer mouse under three conditions: no, supposed predictive AI, and supposed biosignal-enhanced AI.