I Am What I Am – Roles for Artificial Intelligence from the Users’ Perspective

Abstract

With increasing digitization, intelligent software systems are taking over more tasks in everyday human life, both in private and professional contexts. So-called artificial intelligence (AI) ranges from subtle and often unnoticed improvements in daily life, optimizations in data evaluation, assistance systems with which the people interact directly, to perhaps artificial anthropomorphic entities in the future. How-ever, no etiquette yet exists for integrating AI into the human living environment, which has evolved over millennia for human interaction. This paper addresses what roles AI may take, what knowledge AI may have, and how this is influenced by user characteristics. The results show that roles with personal relationships, such as an AI as a friend or partner, are not preferred by users. The higher the confidence in an AI's handling of data, the more likely personal roles are seen as an option for the AI, while the preference for subordinate roles, such as an AI as a servant or a subject, depends on general technology acceptance and belief in a dangerous world. The role attribution is independent from the usage intention and the semantic perception of artificial intelligence, which differs only slightly, e.g., in terms of morality and controllability, from the perception of human intelligence.