AI usage patterns are shaped by perceived gains in human agency

2026-07-02

AI Summary

This study addresses the limitations of prevailing AI trust models, which struggle to account for sustained user engagement and lack ecologically valid, empirically grounded insights into how everyday conversational AI shapes human agency. Through an in-depth ethnographic approach, the research conducts a cross-cultural, contextualized qualitative analysis of 51 users of daily AI chatbots across the United States, Germany, and Singapore. It introduces the novel concept of “perceived agentic gain,” demonstrating that continued use is primarily driven by users’ subjective sense of enhanced personal agency—even in the presence of AI inaccuracies. This finding challenges dominant frameworks centered on accuracy and trust, highlighting the tension between psychological perception and substantive empowerment, and lays the groundwork for AI behavior theories, evaluation tools, and benchmarks that prioritize genuine human empowerment.

Abstract

As conversational AI systems become more deeply integrated into daily life, the implications for human agency are increasingly urgent to understand. AI's potential to amplify capability sits alongside risks of individual and collective disempowerment, yet empirical, ecologically-valid evidence about cumulative usage is scarce. We analyze deep ethnographic data from a study of daily AI chatbot users (n = 51) in the United States, Germany, and Singapore to illuminate conversational AI usage in situated context as a sociotechnical practice. We show that people consistently link sustained AI usage to perceived gains in individual agency. Crucially, these perceived gains often outweigh concerns about accuracy, reliability, and consistency to shape usage patterns. Our findings challenge prevailing assumptions about how and why humans use AI systems over time, suggesting that traditional trust-based models are not sufficient for explaining human behavior with conversational AI. Finally, we expose a critical tension: immediate psychological boosts to perceived agency may not necessarily translate into material effects, structural empowerment, or long-term capacity. Our results help establish a new foundation for novel behavioral frameworks, measurement tools, and AI benchmarks to ensure conversational AI strengthens human agency in substantial, sustained ways.

Problem

• human agency
• conversational AI
• AI usage patterns
• empowerment
• sociotechnical practice

Innovation

• human agency
• conversational AI
• ethnographic study
• trust models
• sociotechnical practice