Artificial Intelligence in Government Weakens Citizens’ Affective Ties With Public Employees: Results From a Vignette Experiment

Abstract

This article examines how citizens’ perceptions of public employees in the education system change as these employees adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in their work. It argues that the use of AI matters for citizens’ perceptions of decision-making not only due to AI system characteristics, but also because AI adoption alters the perceived relationship between citizens and public organizations. Rooted in assumptions of social cognition theory, the analysis tests how information about AI use by public employees alters the perceived warmth of these employees and thereby affects the acceptability of decision-making. The analysis is based on a pre-registered vignette experiment and a sample of 4,569 participants from Norway. It finds that AI use decreases both the perceived warmth and competence of public employees, that these evaluations negatively bear on the overall acceptability of decision-making, and that the effect of AI use is stronger for public employees more directly interacting with others.