Human Perception on Artificial Intelligence: Blessing or Threat?

Abstract

While excitement surrounds new technological frontiers in society, there is also public fear of artificial intelligence (AI), a new technology that holds the potential to contribute much to humanity. For AI technology to become useful in society, it is crucial to determine how ordinary people perceive and accept AI. Surprisingly little research has been done on the actual origins of such fear and anxiety over new technology – especially concerning AI. Our six studies have examined the nature and content of the general threat that people perceive from AI. We found that (a) a good amount of incongruence exists among people who see AI as either a blessing or a threat

(b) the logic-intuition frame – whether people perceive AI to be logical or intuitive – is a key mechanism in formulating any perceived threat

(c) ones perception of blessing versus threat is a strong indicator of ones intention of engaging with AI technology in real life

(d) and most interestingly, this perception of threat can be shifted via a simple frame manipulation. The implications from these findings, which can shed light for those in academia and society at large, are discussed here.