Replication Data for: Adopting AI: how familiarity breeds both trust and contempt

Despite pronouncements about the inevitable diffusion of artificial intelligence and autonomous technologies, in practice, it is human behavior, not technology in a vacuum, that dictates how technology seeps into—and changes—societies. To better understand how human preferences shape technological adoption and the spread of AI-enabled autonomous technologies, we look at representative adult samples of US public opinion in 2018 and 2020 on the use of four types of autonomous technologies: vehicles, surgery, weapons, and cyber defense. By focusing on these four diverse uses of AI-enabled autonomy that span transportation, medicine, and national security, we exploit the inherent variation between these AI-enabled autonomous use cases. We find that those with familiarity and expertise with AI and similar technologies were more likely to support all of the autonomous applications we tested (except weapons) than those with a limited understanding of the technology. Individuals that had already delegated the act of driving using ride-share apps were also more positive about autonomous vehicles. However, familiarity cut both ways; individuals are also less likely to support AI-enabled technologies when applied directly to their life, especially if technology automates tasks they are already familiar with operating. Finally, we find that familiarity plays little role in support for AI-enabled military applications, for which opposition has slightly increased over time.

尽管已有诸多关于人工智能（Artificial Intelligence）与自主技术（Autonomous Technologies）必将普及的论断，但在实践中，决定技术如何渗透并改变社会的是人类行为，而非脱离实际的孤立技术本身。为更深入探究人类偏好如何影响技术采纳与人工智能赋能自主技术的传播，本研究选取2018年与2020年美国公众舆论的代表性成人样本，分析其对四类自主技术应用的态度，涵盖自动驾驶车辆、手术自主系统、军用自主武器以及网络防御自主技术。本研究聚焦于覆盖交通运输、医疗卫生与国家安全三大领域的四类人工智能赋能自主技术的多样化应用场景，充分利用不同应用场景间的固有差异开展分析。研究结果显示，相较于对人工智能及同类技术认知有限的群体，熟悉且具备相关技术知识与专业背景的受访者，更支持本次测试中除军用自主武器外的所有自主技术应用。此前已通过共享出行应用委托他人代为驾驶的受访者，对自动驾驶车辆的接受度也更高。但技术熟悉度的影响存在两面性：当人工智能赋能技术直接应用于个人生活时，尤其是当技术自动化了受访者本已熟悉操作的任务时，受访者对这类技术的支持意愿反而会降低。最后，本研究发现，技术熟悉度对人工智能赋能军用自主技术的支持度几乎没有影响，且公众对这类军用技术的反对态度随时间推移略有上升。