Whose mind is it anyway? A systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentation
Technologies for human augmentation aim to enhance sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities. Despite the growing interest in cognitive augmentation, the sense of agency and the feeling of control over one’s actions and outcomes remained underexplored. We conducted a systematic literature review, scre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949882125000428 |
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| author | Steeven Villa Lisa L. Barth Francesco Chiossi Robin Welsch Thomas Kosch |
| author_facet | Steeven Villa Lisa L. Barth Francesco Chiossi Robin Welsch Thomas Kosch |
| author_sort | Steeven Villa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Technologies for human augmentation aim to enhance sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities. Despite the growing interest in cognitive augmentation, the sense of agency and the feeling of control over one’s actions and outcomes remained underexplored. We conducted a systematic literature review, screening 434 human–computer Interaction articles, and identified 27 papers examining agency in cognitive augmentation. Our analysis revealed a lack of objective methods to measure the sense of agency. We analyzed Electroencephalography (EEG) data of a dataset from 27 participants performing a Columbia Card Task with and without perceived AI assistance to address this research gap. We observed changes in EEG data for alpha and low-beta power, demonstrating EEG as a measure of perceived cognitive agency. These findings demonstrate how EEG can quantify perceived agency, presenting a method to evaluate the impact of cognitive augmentation technologies on the sense of agency. This study not only provides a novel neurophysiological approach for assessing the impact of cognitive augmentation technologies on agency but also leads the way to designing interfaces that create user awareness regarding their sense of agency. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2523786aa43847afa5bb24c96d4594e5 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2949-8821 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans |
| spelling | doaj-art-2523786aa43847afa5bb24c96d4594e52025-06-26T09:54:14ZengElsevierComputers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans2949-88212025-08-015100158Whose mind is it anyway? A systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentationSteeven Villa0Lisa L. Barth1Francesco Chiossi2Robin Welsch3Thomas Kosch4LMU Munich, Frauenlobstrasse 7a, 80337 Munich, Germany; Corresponding author.LMU Munich, Frauenlobstrasse 7a, 80337 Munich, GermanyLMU Munich, Frauenlobstrasse 7a, 80337 Munich, GermanyAalto University, Konemiehentie 2, 02150 Espoo, FinlandHU Berlin, Rudower Chaussee 25, 12489 Berlin, GermanyTechnologies for human augmentation aim to enhance sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities. Despite the growing interest in cognitive augmentation, the sense of agency and the feeling of control over one’s actions and outcomes remained underexplored. We conducted a systematic literature review, screening 434 human–computer Interaction articles, and identified 27 papers examining agency in cognitive augmentation. Our analysis revealed a lack of objective methods to measure the sense of agency. We analyzed Electroencephalography (EEG) data of a dataset from 27 participants performing a Columbia Card Task with and without perceived AI assistance to address this research gap. We observed changes in EEG data for alpha and low-beta power, demonstrating EEG as a measure of perceived cognitive agency. These findings demonstrate how EEG can quantify perceived agency, presenting a method to evaluate the impact of cognitive augmentation technologies on the sense of agency. This study not only provides a novel neurophysiological approach for assessing the impact of cognitive augmentation technologies on agency but also leads the way to designing interfaces that create user awareness regarding their sense of agency.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949882125000428Sense of agencyCognitive augmentationHuman augmentationAugmented humanHuman–computer interaction |
| spellingShingle | Steeven Villa Lisa L. Barth Francesco Chiossi Robin Welsch Thomas Kosch Whose mind is it anyway? A systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentation Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans Sense of agency Cognitive augmentation Human augmentation Augmented human Human–computer interaction |
| title | Whose mind is it anyway? A systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentation |
| title_full | Whose mind is it anyway? A systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentation |
| title_fullStr | Whose mind is it anyway? A systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Whose mind is it anyway? A systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentation |
| title_short | Whose mind is it anyway? A systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentation |
| title_sort | whose mind is it anyway a systematic review and exploration on agency in cognitive augmentation |
| topic | Sense of agency Cognitive augmentation Human augmentation Augmented human Human–computer interaction |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949882125000428 |
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