The Human Black-Box: The Illusion of Understanding Human Better Than Algorithmic Decision-Making

As algorithms increasingly replace human decision-makers, concerns have been voiced about the black-box nature of algorithmic decision-making. These concerns raise an apparent paradox. In many cases, human decision-makers are just as much of a black-box as the algorithms that are meant to replace th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental psychology. General 2022-09, Vol.151 (9), p.2250-2258
Main Authors: Bonezzi, Andrea, Ostinelli, Massimiliano, Melzner, Johann
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Aversion
Cognitive Processes
Decision analysis
Decision Making
Female
Human
Intuition
Male
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Summary:As algorithms increasingly replace human decision-makers, concerns have been voiced about the black-box nature of algorithmic decision-making. These concerns raise an apparent paradox. In many cases, human decision-makers are just as much of a black-box as the algorithms that are meant to replace them. Yet, the inscrutability of human decision-making seems to raise fewer concerns. We suggest that one of the reasons for this paradox is that people foster an illusion of understanding human better than algorithmic decision-making, when in fact, both are black-boxes. We further propose that this occurs, at least in part, because people project their own intuitive understanding of a decision-making process more onto other humans than onto algorithms, and as a result, believe that they understand human better than algorithmic decision-making, when in fact, this is merely an illusion.
ISSN:0096-3445
1939-2222
DOI:10.1037/xge0001181