A paper about the effects of generative AI use on confidence in work tasks is under investigation after critics raised questions about the study design, data analysis and ethics approval for the research.

The study, published in April in Technology, Mind, and Behavior, included 1,923 adults recruited online from the United States and Canada to perform a battery of work-like tasks assisted by AI. It garnered a press release from the American Psychological Association (APA), which publishes the journal, and coverage in Time and Futurism.

Sandra Grinschgl of the University of Bern in Switzerland, who studies technology-driven cognitive offloading, got an alert about the study shortly after it came out. To dig deeper, she enlisted two colleagues at the University of Bern who are well-versed in scientific sleuthing: Ian Hussey and psychologist Malte Elson. The researchers shared their concerns on PubPeer, LinkedIn and Bluesky, where other researchers “started to look into it and found additional things.

Source https://retractionwatch.com/2026/06/16/technology-mind-behavior-apa-journal-investigation-cognitive-impact-generative-ai/

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