The role of perceived freewill in crises of human-AI interaction: the mediating role of ethical responsibility of AI

Abstract

This study aims to uncover the underlying psychological mechanism through which individuals attribute ethical responsibility to conversational artificial intelligence (AI). Furthermore, this study delves into the implications of AI’s unethical behavior on consumer evaluation. In Study 1, the results showed that participants in the high (vs. low) anthropomorphic AI condition judged greater responsibility for unethical behavior by AI, while lessening the AI developer’s ethical responsibility. In addition, the effect of anthropomorphism on ethical responsibility was mediated by perceived freewill. In Study 2, a significant interaction effect between perceived freewill and communication strategy is found, suggesting that when a high degree of AI freewill is perceived, the accommodative (vs. defensive) communication strategy is more effective in reducing the perception of the unethical behavior of AI. Conversely, the defensive strategy was more effective when perceived freewill was low. This study reveals the psychological mechanism through which individuals expect ethical responsibility from conversational AI, which has theoretical implications for broadening the understanding of human–AI interaction, and discusses the practical implications of proposing an AI communication strategy.

Keywords:

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• freewill
• ethics
• anthropomorphism
• situational crisis communication theory (SCCT)
• human–AI interaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2021S1A5B5A16075775).

Notes on contributors

Jungyong Ahn

Jungyong Ahn is a research professor at the School of Media and Communication, Korea University. His research interest focuses on consumer-brand relationships, new media advertising, human-computer interaction, and ethical design of artificial intelligence.

Jungwon Kim

Jungwon Kim is a research professor at the School of Psychology, Korea University. Her research focuses on AI-human interactions, and privacy in digital media, sustainable consumption within the field of consumer and advertising psychology.

Yongjun Sung

Yongjun Sung is a professor of psychology at the School of Psychology, Korea University. His research focuses on self-concept, brand personality, brand management, digital media, and artificial intelligence (AI). He has authored or co-authored over 100 articles in leading referred journals including International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising, Psychology and Marketing, Marketing Letters, among others.