Factors influencing trust in algorithmic decision-making: an indirect scenario-based experiment.

Journal: Frontiers in artificial intelligence
Published Date: Feb 4, 2025

Abstract

Algorithms are involved in decisions ranging from trivial to significant, but people often express distrust toward them. Research suggests that educational efforts to explain how algorithms work may help mitigate this distrust. In a study of 1,921 participants from 20 countries, we examined differences in algorithmic trust for low-stakes and high-stakes decisions. Our results suggest that statistical literacy is negatively associated with trust in algorithms for high-stakes situations, while it is positively associated with trust in low-stakes scenarios with high algorithm familiarity. However, explainability did not appear to influence trust in algorithms. We conclude that having statistical literacy enables individuals to critically evaluate the decisions made by algorithms, data and AI, and consider them alongside other factors before making significant life decisions. This ensures that individuals are not solely relying on algorithms that may not fully capture the complexity and nuances of human behavior and decision-making. Therefore, policymakers should consider promoting statistical/AI literacy to address some of the complexities associated with trust in algorithms. This work paves the way for further research, including the triangulation of data with direct observations of user interactions with algorithms or physiological measures to assess trust more accurately.

Authors

  • Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos
    College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
  • Rebecca Marrone
    Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
  • Malgorzata Korolkiewicz
    Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
  • Florence Gabriel
    Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
  • George Siemens
    Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
  • Srecko Joksimovic
    Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
  • Yuki Yamada
    Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
  • Yuki Mori
    Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
  • Talal Rahwan
    Computer Science, Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
  • Maria Sahakyan
    Computer Science, Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
  • Belona Sonna
    African Masters of Machine Intelligence (AMMI), African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Limbe, Cameroon.
  • Assylbek Meirmanov
    Higher Schools, Pedagogical Institute, Astana International University, Astana, Kazakhstan.
  • Aidos Bolatov
    Department of General and Biological Chemistry, Astana Medical University, Astana, Kazakhstan.
  • Bidisha Som
    Department of Humanities and Social Science, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India.
  • Izuchukwu Ndukaihe
    Department of Psychology, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi, Nigeria.
  • Nwadiogo C Arinze
    Department of Psychology, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi, Nigeria.
  • Josef Kundrát
    Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia.
  • Lenka Skanderová
    Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia.
  • Van-Giang Ngo
    Department of English, Hanoi University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
  • Giang Nguyen
    Department of English, Hanoi University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
  • Michelle Lacia
    College of Arts and Sciences, Notre Dame University, Cotabato, Philippines.
  • Chun-Chia Kung
    Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
  • Meiselina Irmayanti
    Department of Communication, University of Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Indonesia.
  • Abdul Muktadir
    Postgraduate Program of Basic Education, University of Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Indonesia.
  • Fransiska Timoria Samosir
    Library and Information Science, University of Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Indonesia.
  • Marco Tullio Liuzza
    Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, Università di Padova, Padua, Italy.
  • Roberto Giorgini
    Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
  • Omid Khatin-Zadeh
    School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
  • Hassan Banaruee
    Department of Educational Psychology, University of Education of Weingarten, Weingarten, Germany.
  • Asil Ali Özdoğru
    Department of Psychology, Marmara University, Istanbul, Türkiye.
  • Kris Ariyabuddhiphongs
    Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
  • Wachirawit Rakchai
    Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
  • Natalia Trujillo
    Faculty of Public Health, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
  • Stella Maris Valencia
    Faculty of Public Health, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
  • Armina Janyan
    Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria.
  • Kiril Kostov
    Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria.
  • Pedro R Montoro
    Departamento de Psicología Básica 1, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain.
  • Jose Hinojosa
    Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
  • Kelsey Medeiros
    Department of Management, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE, United States.
  • Thomas E Hunt
    School of Psychology, University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom.
  • Julian Posada
    Department of American Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.
  • Raquel Meister Ko Freitag
    Departamento de Psicologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Saõ Cristóvão, Brazil.
  • Julian Tejada
    Departamento de Psicologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Saõ Cristóvão, Brazil.

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