TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Abel, Martin
AU  - Dawi, Raghad S.
AU  - Lenk, Tyler
AU  - Singer, Aidan
        TI  - Algorithm Aversion in Prosocial Tasks: Evidence from AI-Based Performance Evaluation
        PY  - 2026/May/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18678
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18678
        AB  - How do workers respond when artificial intelligence replaces human judgment in evaluating prosocial work? Partnering with a non-profit addressing food insecurity, we recruit 1,491 U.S. volunteers to write fundraising messages and cross-randomize evaluation 
by humans versus AI and the presence of performance pay. AI evaluation reduces effort by 11–14 percent among volunteers with low commitment to the cause, while having no effect on those strongly aligned with the mission. Performance pay fails to mitigate these adverse effects. Workers perceive AI as less effective at identifying quality, which appears to be the primary mechanism, and as less fair and transparent than human evaluation. Introducing an AI algorithm that explicitly applies human evaluation criteria does not mitigate these negative effects, suggesting that resistance to AI evaluation reflects deeper skepticism about machines' capacity for subjective judgment.
        KW  - algorithm aversion
KW  - algorithmic management
KW  - artificial intelligence
KW  - intrinsic motivation
KW  - worker effort
        ER  -