Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender

How to cite it

Built from the details listed on this page. Check them against the paper before you submit.

Shaw, S. D., & Nave, G. (2026). Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender. Working paper. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6097646

Shaw, Steven D., et al. "Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender." Working paper, 2026, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6097646.

@article{shaw2026thinkingfast,
  title = {Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender},
  author = {Steven D. Shaw and Gideon Nave},
  journal = {Working paper},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6097646},
}

What it is

A Wharton working paper by Steven D Shaw and Gideon Nave, written 11 January 2026 and posted to SSRN on 2 February 2026. It proposes "Tri-System Theory" — adding a "System 3" (thinking done outside your head by a machine) to Kahneman's fast/slow account — and names "cognitive surrender": taking an AI's answer with barely a glance. Across three preregistered experiments (1,372 people, 9,593 trials) the researchers secretly varied whether the AI was right. People consulted it on more than half of questions; accuracy rose about 25 percentage points when the AI was right and fell about 15 when it was wrong, and confidence went up either way — even after errors. Time pressure, cash incentives and feedback all moved baseline scores but never removed the pattern.

Topics