AI-induced dehumanization

Kim, Hye-young ORCID: 0000-0003-3788-6135 and McGill, Ann L. (2024) AI-induced dehumanization. Journal of Consumer Psychology. ISSN 1057-7408

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Abstract

Recent technological advancements have empowered nonhuman entities, such as virtual assistants and humanoid robots, to simulate human intelligence and behavior. This paper investigates how autonomous agents influence individuals' perceptions and behaviors toward others, particularly human employees. Our research reveals that the socio-emotional capabilities of autonomous agents lead individuals to attribute a humanlike mind to these nonhuman entities. Perceiving a high level of humanlike mind in the nonhuman, autonomous agents affects perceptions of actual people through an assimilation process. Consequently, we observe “assimilation-induced dehumanization”: the humanness judgment of actual people is assimilated toward the lower humanness judgment of autonomous agents, leading to various forms of mistreatment. We demonstrate that assimilation-induced dehumanization is mitigated when autonomous agents possess capabilities incompatible with humans, leading to a contrast effect (Study 2), and when autonomous agents are perceived as having a high level of cognitive capability only, resulting in a lower level of mind perception of these agents (Study 3). Our findings hold across various types of autonomous agents (embodied: Studies 1–2 and disembodied: Studies 3–5), as well as in real and hypothetical consumer choices.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Management
Subjects:	T Technology > T Technology (General) H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Date Deposited:	27 Aug 2024 09:45
Last Modified:	26 Nov 2024 21:57
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124665

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