Mismatch between warning information and protective behavior: Why experts + AI < 2?
Journal:
Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis
Published Date:
May 4, 2025
Abstract
Warning information plays a vital role in encouraging disaster preparedness among residents. Using survey experiment data from 619 respondents in China, this study examines how warning messages from AI, experts, and a combination of the two influence public disaster preparedness behaviors and whether the degree of impact differs between these sources. The findings reveal that warnings from AI, experts, and a combination of those two sources significantly affect disaster preparedness behaviors. Notably, and contrary to conventional expectations, the combined warnings from AI and experts do not result in a mutually strengthening effect. Instead, a crowding-out effect is observed, whereby the combined impact is less than the sum of individual effects ("Experts + AI < 2"). This outcome can be attributed to information fatigue, suggesting that information overload does not always benefit the public but instead often becomes a burden. Additionally, the influence of AI-driven warnings on preparedness varies substantially with respondents' educational levels. The insights provided by this study hold practical implications for government agencies in promoting public disaster preparedness.
Authors
Keywords
No keywords available for this article.