Influencing factors of human trust towards AI-based systems

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly developing field. Intelligent systems such as AI-powered chatbots, autonomous vehicles, and virtual assistants for example, are becoming increasingly prevalent and indispensable in our daily lives. Despite the many benefits of AI, that make our lives easier, more productive and convenient, there are also concerns about its impact on society. Some people over-rely on AI in their daily tasks and others do not trust these new technologies at all. However, as we rely more and more on these systems, it is essential to understand the cognitive mechanisms underlying human trust in them. Trust is a complex phenomenon, shaped by various factors, i.e., transparency, risk and loss, emotions, biases, cognitive dissonance, expectations and many more. In order to create a cognitive model to predict trust in AI, as part of this project, these factors influencing trust need to be explored and analyzed further. Through experimental studies, this research aims to explore the cognitive mechanisms of trust in intelligent systems as well as the effect of manipulating these variables.

This dissertation is conducted within the GS SimTech and the Interchange Forum for Reflecting on Intelligent Systems (IRIS).