Answer-Key Burden: A State-Responsibility Framework for Long-Horizon Human–AI Collaboration

Abstract

A conceptual and measurement framework for attributing avoidable human recovery work in long-horizon human–AI collaboration according to state availability, validity, permission, protocol status, and recovery responsibility. The paper distinguishes legitimate clarification from burden-shifting and answer-donation contamination, proposes a prospective factorial validation study, and situates Answer-Key Burden within the broader AI Hold the Map research program. This preprint does not claim validated human benefit or a validated psychological construct.