Nonslop: A Gamified Experiment in Human-AI Collaborative Writing

2026-06-10

AI Summary

This study investigates how individuals balance efficiency against personal expression to preserve creative autonomy in AI-assisted authorship. Departing from conventional “assistant” paradigms, the authors design a dystopian game-theoretic experiment that explicitly prohibits participants from accepting AI suggestions, thereby inducing tension between compliance and temptation. Real-time, word-level recommendations are generated by a large language model and embedded within gamified writing tasks, with behavioral logs capturing authentic preference dynamics under incentive structures. Analyzing 214 responses from 74 participants, the research identifies key factors influencing whether users uphold autonomy or covertly adopt AI input, revealing significant associations with task type and response characteristics. These findings offer novel insights into the boundaries of human agency in human–AI co-creative processes.

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of large language models (LLMs) raises critical questions about human creativity and individual expression in an era of AI-assisted creation. When do humans adopt AI suggestions, and what are the implications for individual voice? This study examines these questions through a gamified writing exercise where 74 participants (214 responses) replied to prompts while AI-generated word suggestions were available as they wrote. The game simulates a dystopian future in which an AI is attempting to learn from what remains of human individuality, and disincentivizes AI-like writing. In doing so, it attempts to create conditions that reveal authentic user preferences rather than default behaviors, such as accepting a readily available AI-generated suggestion. Note that this is a deliberate inversion of the "helpful assistant" design pattern; the system is explicitly forbidding you from accepting AI suggestions. We analyze user behavior patterns across different task types, user behaviors, and response characteristics to understand the factors influencing human-AI interaction in creative tasks. The study focuses on when users choose to maintain creative autonomy versus violating the rules of the game and accepting AI assistance. It also explores how these choices relate to response patterns, task characteristics, and user behavior. This gamified approach offers both a framework for studying authentic human-AI interaction and a provocative lens for understanding the tension between efficiency and authenticity in AI-augmented creativity.

Problem

• human-AI collaboration
• creative autonomy
• individual expression
• AI-assisted writing
• authenticity

Innovation

• gamified experiment
• human-AI collaboration
• creative autonomy
• AI-assisted writing
• individual expression