Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2025
05:21
Characterization of the Sense of Agency over the Actions of Neural-machine Interface-operated Prostheses
Published on: January 7, 2019
7.8K
Agentive linguistic framing affects responsibility assignments toward AIs and their creators
Dawson Petersen1, Amit Almor1,2
1Linguistics Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, United States.
Frontiers in Psychology
|May 22, 2025
Summary
Agentive language describing artificial intelligence (AI) influences responsibility perceptions. Lower AI experience increases perceived AI responsibility, while domain expertise mitigates this effect by reducing anthropomorphism.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Linguistics
Background:
- Technology companies frequently employ agentive language to describe artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
- Linguistic research indicates that framing non-human entities as agents can lead readers to perceive them as causal actors.
- The impact of such framing on responsibility attributions towards AI and their creators remains under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how agentive linguistic framing affects responsibility assignments to AI and companies.
- To determine if psychological anthropomorphism or linguistic causal schemas mediate these effects.
- To examine the moderating role of user experience with AI.
Main Methods:
- Participants read vignettes where an AI ("Dr. AI") provided harmful health advice, framed as either an agent or an instrument.
- Responsibility ratings were collected for the AI, the company, and patients.
- Participant AI experience was assessed.
Main Results:
- Participants assigned greater responsibility to the AI when it was framed as an agent compared to an instrument.
- An interaction was observed: lower AI experience correlated with higher AI responsibility in the agent framing.
- Higher AI experience participants showed no significant difference in responsibility assignment across framing conditions.
Conclusions:
- Agentive language increases perceived AI responsibility, particularly for less experienced users.
- Domain experience with AI mitigates the influence of linguistic framing by reducing anthropomorphism.
- Findings highlight the psychological impact of language on AI perception and accountability.
Related Concept Videos
03:26Framing Effects
7.3K
Information is everywhere and its presentation—such as how and when items are presented—can impact our perceptions and decisions surrounding the info. This broad concept umbrellas framing effects—influences that occur due to the way information is framed in its appearance, whether it’s purely the order or the specific wording of a message. Let’s take a look at numerous ways in which two versions of something can objectively say the same thing, yet we respond in...
7.3K
01:27Language and Cognition
303
Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
303
01:14Fundamental Attribution Error
12.8K
According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is...
12.8K
00:56Attribution Theory
12.9K
Behavior is a product of both the situation (e.g., cultural influences, social roles, and the presence of bystanders) and of the person (e.g., personality characteristics). Subfields of psychology tend to focus on one influence or behavior over others. Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings. In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors (Heider, 1958).
12.9K
02:16Stereotype Content Model
13.9K
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) was first proposed by Susan Fiske and her colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002; see also Fiske, 2012 and Fiske, 2017). The SCM specifies that when someone encounters a new group, they will stereotype them based on two metrics: warmth—or that group’s perceived intent, and how likely they are to provide help or inflict harm—and competence—or their ability to carry out that objective. Depending on the warmth-competence...
13.9K
02:57The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
49.5K
According to Charles Cooley, we base our image on what we think other people see (Cooley 1902). We imagine how we must appear to others, then react to this speculation. We don certain clothes, prepare our hair in a particular manner, wear makeup, use cologne, and the like—all with the notion that our presentation of ourselves is going to affect how others perceive us. We expect a certain reaction, and, if lucky, we get the one we desire and feel good about it. But more than that, Cooley...
49.5K