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Abstract
Public attitudes are essential for technology promotion and policy formulation. The present study investigated the Chinese public’s knowledge of ChatGPT, as well as examined the roles played by Big-Five personality traits, social perception, and AI anxiety in shaping the public’s attitudes toward ChatGPT using the questionnaire method. Results showed that: (1) Nearly, 1/3 of teachers surveyed did not know ChatGPT at all, and all of them were primary and secondary school teachers. (2) The level of knowledge about ChatGPT was significantly related to gender, educational level, teaching stage (in teacher samples), and major (in student samples). (3) The public’s positive attitude is higher significantly than the negative attitude. (4) Social perception positively predicted positive attitudes and negatively predicted negative attitudes. Moreover, a notably higher predictive power for positive attitudes compared to negative attitudes was demonstrated by social perception. There is an equally predictive effect of competence perception and warmth perception on attitudes, without any domain effect observed. (5) AI anxiety only positively predicted negative attitudes but did not impact positive attitudes. In explaining negative attitudes, AI anxiety exhibited a higher explanatory power compared to the Big-Five personality traits, primarily correlating with neuroticism. The findings indicate that it’s inappropriate to consider attitude evaluation toward AI as a single dimension. There are relatively independent components for positive and negative attitudes toward AI. The roles played by other predictive variables in attitudes are discussed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
Our data are not yet available online in any institutional database. However, the whole data package is available on request to Professor Qingbai Zhao: [email protected].
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Notes on contributors
Chengcheng Wang
Chengcheng Wang is an academic graduate student at the School of Psychology, Central China Normal University. Her research focuses on cyber-psychology and creativity, mainly exploring the impact of AI on human learning and cognition, as well as strategies for enhancing creativity.
Xing Li
Xing Li is a doctoral student at the School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, specializing in the psychology of creativity. Her research focuses on innovative learning, cognitive neural processes of creative thinking, and enhancing creative thinking in adolescents.
Zheng Liang
Zheng Liang is a doctoral student at the Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education) in the School of Psychology at Central China Normal University. His research interests include educational psychology and group creativity.
Yingying Sheng
Yingying Sheng is an academic graduate student at the School of Psychology, Central China Normal University. Her research focuses on cyber-psychology and addiction, mainly exploring the impact of Internet on human behavior and cognition.
Qingbai Zhao
Qingbai Zhao is a professor at the School of Psychology at Central China Normal University. His research focuses on cognitive neuroscience and cyber-psychology. He explores the influencing factors and cognitive neural processes of creative thinking, as well as the impact of digital products and AI on learning and cognition.
Shi Chen
Shi Chen is a lecturer at the School of Medical Humanities, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine. Her research focuses on the psychology of creativity, including cognitive neural processes of creative thinking, the generation of creative perspectives in teams, and enhancing creative thinking in adolescents.