The Future of Negotiations? How AI as negotiation counterpart affects negotiators' trust and subjective value expectations

Abstract: Technological progress will make the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as negotiation counterpart possible in the future. However, how human negotiators react to such technology use is largely unclear. Therefore, we investigated how AI as negotiation counterpart influences negotiator trust and expectations regarding an upcoming negotiation. In a preregistered vignette study, participants (n = 290) imagined a job negotiation. We manipulated the type of negotiation counterpart (human - AI with human representation - AI without human representation) and assessed participants’ trust intentions and expectations regarding an upcoming negotiation. Results showed higher trust and more positive expectations for human counterparts as compared to AI-agents. Human-like representation of AI had no effect. Moreover, high technology commitment reduced the negative effect for AI as negotiation counterpart. Overall, our findings suggest that companies should be cautious when using AI-agents for negotiations despite opportunities offered by technological progress.

Keywords: negotiation; artificial intelligence; trust; subjective value; human-agent negotiations