Heuristic
Use recommendation mode as an option generator, not a verdict
Novel is useful raw material. It is not an authority level.
When it fits
- You want AI's ability to surface novel possibilities but do not want low-effort advice to become the decision.
When to avoid it
- The cited decision-support study used one investment task; use this as an interaction pattern to test, not a claim that recommendation mode always improves creativity.
Why it matters
When you need breadth, ask AI for recommendations or options deliberately, then move them into your own comparison process. Treat the recommendations as candidates that need fit, evidence and constraints applied. This captures the novelty advantage observed in recommendation-centric support without confusing lower cognitive effort with better judgment.
An example
Use AI to propose three migration approaches, then evaluate each against downtime, reversibility, data volume and support constraints.
Check your result
AI increases the option set without becoming the final decision rule.
Keep this limit in mind
- The cited decision-support study used one investment task; use this as an interaction pattern to test, not a claim that recommendation mode always improves creativity.
Evidence and sources
In the ExtendAI comparison, recommendation-based AI provided more novel insights while requiring less cognitive effort than the rationale-extending condition.
Novelty and lower effort are not automatically better decision quality; the choice of interaction mode should match the job.
AI, Help Me Think—but for Myself: Assisting People in Complex Decision-Making by Providing Different Kinds of Cognitive Support · Abstract results