AI makes you smarter but none the wiser.

What the study found

• Study 1 (N = 246): participants used AI on 20 LSAT logical-reasoning problems. Performance rose about three points over a norm population, but participants overestimated their score by about four points.
• Higher AI literacy correlated with lower metacognitive accuracy — people with more technical knowledge of AI were more confident but less precise about their own performance.
• The Dunning–Kruger pattern usually seen on this task disappeared with AI use: AI levelled both performance and self-assessment.
• Study 2 (N = 452) replicated the findings.

Daniela Fernandes, Steeven Villa, Salla Nicholls, Otso Haavisto, Daniel Buschek, Albrecht Schmidt, Thomas Kosch, Chenxinran Shen, Robin Welsch. Computers in Human Behavior, 175, 108779.

Why it matters for AI visibility

This is The Lisa Latte Effect measured in a lab: AI output feels like your own competence. A fluent answer about your business is not proof the machine understands it. The only reliable check is outside measurement: what models actually cite, include and select across repeated, dated queries.

Reading list

Computers in Human Behavior, volume 175 (2026).

1. AI makes you smarter but none the wiser: The disconnect between performance and metacognition ↗

   Daniela Fernandes et al. · Article 108779 · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2025.108779

   AI use raises performance but inflates confidence — the empirical basis for The Lisa Latte Effect.

2. AI tutors vs. tenacious myths: Evidence from personalised dialogue interventions in education ↗

   Brooklyn J. Corbett et al. · Article 108828 · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2025.108828

   Tests whether personalised AI dialogue can correct persistent false beliefs.

3. Fake news, consumer cynicism and negative word-of-mouth: The mitigating role of trust in social media advertising ↗

   Ovidiu-Ioan Moisescu et al. · Article 108842 · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2025.108842

   How misinformation exposure erodes trust — and what trust signals protect brands.

4. Biofeedback training can enhance esports players' shooting performance in an aiming task: focusing on cortical activity and gaze movement ↗

   Inhyeok Jeong et al. · Article 108836 · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2025.108836

   Human performance augmentation through real-time feedback.

5. Game over: Unraveling the prevalence and associations between bruxism, TMD and psychosocial factors in the Esports arena ↗

   Flávia Paula Da Silva Cardoso et al. · Article 108837 · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2025.108837

   Psychosocial cost of high-intensity digital performance.

6. Task context and player expertise modulate arm EMG linked to win-loss outcomes in esports ↗

   Sorato Minami et al. · Article 108850 · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2025.108850

   Physiological signals of expertise under competitive pressure.