Suspicious of AI? Perceived autonomy and interdependence predict AI-related conspiracy beliefs

IF 3.2 2区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL

British Journal of Social Psychology Pub Date : 2025-04-01 DOI:10.1111/bjso.12883

Qi Zhao, Jan-Willem van Prooijen, Xinying Jiang, Giuliana Spadaro

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Abstract

As artificial intelligence (AI) evolves, conspiracy theories have emerged that authorities will use AI to oppress humanity, or AI itself will. We propose that perceived high autonomy and low interdependence of AI increase AI-related conspiracy beliefs. Four studies (total N = 1897) have examined this line of reasoning. Study 1 (N = 300) supported the hypotheses in a correlational survey. Studies 2 (N = 400) and 3 (pre-registered; N = 400) manipulated the autonomy and interdependence of AI in experiments. Both studies found that higher autonomy and lower interdependence increased AI-related conspiracy beliefs, while perceived threat to society mediated these effects in most cases. Study 4 (pre-registered) replicated findings from Study 2 in the United States (N = 400) and China (N = 397) and found cultural differences in AI-related conspiracy beliefs. These findings illuminate how the perceived properties of AI contribute to AI-related conspiracy beliefs.

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来源期刊

British Journal of Social Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL-

CiteScore

9.50

自引率

7.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： The British Journal of Social Psychology publishes work from scholars based in all parts of the world, and manuscripts that present data on a wide range of populations inside and outside the UK. It publishes original papers in all areas of social psychology including: • social cognition • attitudes • group processes • social influence • intergroup relations • self and identity • nonverbal communication • social psychological aspects of personality, affect and emotion • language and discourse Submissions addressing these topics from a variety of approaches and methods, both quantitative and qualitative are welcomed. We publish papers of the following kinds: • empirical papers that address theoretical issues; • theoretical papers, including analyses of existing social psychological theories and presentations of theoretical innovations, extensions, or integrations; • review papers that provide an evaluation of work within a given area of social psychology and that present proposals for further research in that area; • methodological papers concerning issues that are particularly relevant to a wide range of social psychologists; • an invited agenda article as the first article in the first part of every volume. The editorial team aims to handle papers as efficiently as possible. In 2016, papers were triaged within less than a week, and the average turnaround time from receipt of the manuscript to first decision sent back to the authors was 47 days.