Eyes don’t lie: Indifferent to AI-generated depression screenings

This study explored how users respond to a depression self-diagnosis app
with two outcomes: “doctor-generated” and “AI-generated.” The
doctor-generated result was based on participants’ actual PHQ-9 depression
scores, while the AI-generated result was randomly selected and sometimes
matched the true diagnosis. Participants (n = 47) with depressive symptoms
used the app while pupil dilation was recorded using a Tobii Pro Spectrum
eye tracker. Pupil dilation was analyzed before and during the decision
phase. Participants who chose the doctor-generated result showed no
difference in pupil dilation compared to those who chose AI. Our Extreme
Gradient Boosting (XGB) model predicted trust with an AUROC of 0.871.
These findings show that users engage equally with both AI and
doctor-labeled diagnoses, but pupil diameter is indicative of their trust.