AI Decision Dependence & Cognitive Caution 2025 (Dataset, n = 201)

This dataset is part of the Human Clarity Institute’s AI–Human Experience 2025 data series. It examines how adults experience AI-assisted decision-making, including decision reliance, confidence shifts, second-guessing, cognitive caution, and the influence of AI on personal judgement and clarity. The dataset includes: validated 1–7 Likert-scale items capturing reliance, confidence, doubt, persuasion, and cognitive influence measures of AI-supported decision dependence and comfort checking decisions with AI indicators of decision confidence, self-doubt, clarity, and judgement stability variables reflecting cognitive caution, including second-guessing and conflict about AI influence multi-select value-judgement items, stored as canonical semicolon-delimited snake_case tokens open-text reflections describing moments when participants relied on AI to help make decisions (minimal cleaning applied: trim + newline removal only) demographic variables across six English-speaking countries digital life exposure (self-reported daily hours online) and AI-tool usage frequency Data were collected on 29 November 2025 via Prolific from adults in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland. All data were cleaned, anonymised, and processed under the Human Clarity Institute’s machine-readable data protocol, including: canonical snake_case variable naming validated numeric ranges standardised multi-select formats minimal safe text cleaning full data-dictionary alignment verified removal of Prolific IDs and timestamps SHA-256 checksums for all files This dataset contributes to understanding how AI systems shape human decision processes, confidence, clarity, and behavioural patterns. It provides a foundation for longitudinal tracking of AI-assisted decision behaviours and the evolving cognitive relationship between humans and AI in everyday life.