Psychological factors underlying attitudes toward AI tools

Nat Hum Behav. 2023 Nov;7(11):1845-1854. doi: 10.1038/s41562-023-01734-2. Epub 2023 Nov 20.

Abstract

What are the psychological factors driving attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and how can resistance to AI systems be overcome when they are beneficial? Here we first organize the main sources of resistance into five main categories: opacity, emotionlessness, rigidity, autonomy and group membership. We relate each of these barriers to fundamental aspects of cognition, then cover empirical studies providing correlational or causal evidence for how the barrier influences attitudes toward AI tools. Second, we separate each of the five barriers into AI-related and user-related factors, which is of practical relevance in developing interventions towards the adoption of beneficial AI tools. Third, we highlight potential risks arising from these well-intentioned interventions. Fourth, we explain how the current Perspective applies to various stakeholders, including how to approach interventions that carry known risks, and point to outstanding questions for future work.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Artificial Intelligence*
  • Cognition
  • Empirical Research
  • Humans
  • Intention
  • Mental Disorders*