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The Bystander Effect Applies to Virtual Agents, New Psychology Research Shows

A new study in Consciousness and Cognition shows that working alongside a virtual AI partner reduces people’s explicit sense of control while simultaneously boosting their unconscious sense of agency, measured via temporal binding. In two online experiments participants either acted alone, with an active digital avatar named Bobby, or with a non‑acting observer. When Bobby could intervene, participants reported lower conscious control but perceived their actions as occurring faster, indicating heightened implicit agency. The effect vanished when the avatar was merely visible, highlighting the importance of actual agent capability.