Poster Session 3, 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM: Campus Center Auditorium [A77]

Presenter: Lauren Michele Horowitz

Faculty Sponsor: Seth Surgan

School: Worcester State University

Research Area: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

ABSTRACT

As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, many people find it difficult to keep pace with rapid developments and fully understand how these systems function. Individuals often rely on familiar portrayals from popular culture to shape their perceptions of AI. These representations range widely—from friendly companions like Wall-E, to humanoid weapons such as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in The Terminator, to controlling and potentially dangerous entities like HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. These frameworks provide a anthropomorphized view of AI rather than a clear explanation for how AI works. The study “In AI We Trust?” investigated whether framing AI literacy using technical language versus anthropomorphic language affected participants’ anxiety about AI, trust in AI, tendency to anthropomorphize AI, and overall understanding of the technology. Outcomes were measured immediately after the intervention and again two weeks later. Researchers predicted that both groups would demonstrate improved understanding alongside increased anxiety. They also hypothesized that participants exposed to anthropomorphic framing would show decreased trust and greater anthropomorphism, whereas those receiving technical framing would exhibit increased trust and reduced anthropomorphic tendencies. Two hundred undergraduate students from Worcester State University participated in the study. Initially, participants completed surveys assessing anxiety, trust, anthropomorphic tendencies, and AI knowledge. They were then assigned to one of two AI literacy readings: one written in technical language and the other using anthropomorphic descriptions. After finishing the reading, participants completed the surveys again, followed by a final assessment two weeks later to evaluate longer-term effects.

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