Is Ignorance Bliss? Role of Credibility Information and System Reliability on User Trust in Emergent Technologies

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between the credibility of an emergent system and users’ perceptions would improve our knowledge of human interaction with emergent technologies in the present day. The purpose of this research was to examine how much background information about an emergent system must be given to naïve users to engender appropriate trust and utilization. Participants performed a simulated airline luggage-screening task with the assistance of an emergent system that was 70% reliable on one half of the task and 90% reliable on the other half. Participants were assigned to one of two groups: (1) no information (participants were merely told they would receive the assistance of an automated system with no additional details), and (2) information (participants were provided with background information about the system’s functions, including the fact that it was a recently developed emergent system whose credibility had yet to be established). Results revealed that background information led to higher trust and better utilization than no information, even when the system was portrayed as emergent without established credibility. Regardless of the actual level of system expertise, information about system functions engendered more appropriate utilization.

Keywords: Emergent Technology, Automation, Trust, Credibility, Reliability, Luggage Screening

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100214