Effect of wordings on public perception toward Artificial Intelligence

AbstractArtificial Intelligence (AI) is an increasingly prevalent field that influences a number of other areas. It generates a multitude of reactions among the general population, particularly anxiety, which impacts on the development, deployment, and regulation of AI. Nevertheless, experimental data on public perceptions toward AI are generally lacking. To fill this gap, this paper presents a large-scale experiment conducted on the influence of the terms used to describe AI on people’s perception. In a preliminary study (705 participants), words related to AI were extracted. In a second experiment (552 participants), the impact of these terminologies on anxiety toward AI was explored. An unprecedented effect of wording and a positive bias of perception toward computers was revealed by these experiments, compared to “robots” and “new technologies”. This research paves the way for future studies on the effect of words on perception in the field of AI and new technologies.


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