Abstract Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in generative AI and agentic AI, have intensified challenges related to transparency and explainability. While explainable AI (XAI) research has evolved to facilitate human interaction with such complex, black-box systems, research and practice lack clarity on the causal chain linking explanations, user perceptions, and real-world outcomes, a relationship that remains conceptually fragmented. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic literature review of 107 experimental user studies on XAI. We developed a conceptual framework guided by the stimulus-organism-response-consequences (S-O-R-C) model to systematize current human-XAI research and examine how users respond to explanations. Our study contributes to the literature by clarifying how explanations shape user interactions and downstream effects in real-world settings. We propose five research directions to help navigate the challenges of emerging AI systems (e.g., LLMs, AI agents) and evolving human-AI delegation.
Reinhard et al. (2026) studied this question.