The Use of AI in Decision-Making-Balancing Trust and Congruence

September 12st, 2025
10:30am – 12pm in Village Building (B252) & on Zoom
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Speaker:
Michael MÖDL– Assistant Professor, Management, Strategy and Innovation, KU Leuven – Belgium
abstract
This study examines the dynamics of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-supported decision-making from an agency perspective.
Drawing on survey data from 1,233 entrepreneurs and a vignette experiment, we find that higher trust in AI increases both expected AI usage in decision-making and perceived congruence between human and expected AI decisions.
However, congruence in human and AI decisions has an inverted U-shaped relationship with expected AI usage—excessive congruence of human and AI decisions may render AI support redundant.
This suggests a trade-off: while trust promotes the expected use of AI in decision making, it may also reduce it through increasing congruence.
Our results have important implications for the literature on the use of AI in decision-making.
The study also highlights important managerial considerations for designing and implementing AI in decision-making processes, particularly in areas like entrepreneurial team selection, where AI has the potential to reduce biases.