We are delighted to announce that our student project “The Illusion of Understanding: Mitigating Cognitive Bias in Interactive AI Interfaces for Medical Decision-Making” won the Audience Award and was awarded second place by the expert jury at the WI 2026 Student Challenge. The project was developed by Chantal Jedrschyk, Agnieszka Lino, Aya Almalla, and Rawan Almalla under the supervision of our Chair. Special recognition goes to Chantal Jedrschyk, who presented the project during WI 2026 at Johannes Kepler University Linz.

The WI 2026 Student Challenge called for contributions of students in Information Systems and related disciplines who worked on projects with a strong practical focus. Our project explores strategies for mitigating cognitive bias in AI-supported breast cancer treatment decisions. It addresses the risk that users may rely too heavily on AI advice, even when that advice is incorrect or based on flawed reasoning. To encourage users to critically assess AI recommendations, the project examines interface features that draw attention to alternative assessments or delay the presentation of AI advice. Examples include asking users to provide their own assessment before revealing the AI’s recommendation and presenting arguments both for and against a given assessment.

Congratulations to the entire team on this achievement!