Tweaking the Messages and Approaching the Glass Box: Using AI Chatbots to Promote Help-Seeking for Depressive...

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
• Digital Health Communication

Background:

• AI-based health chatbots are increasingly used for health promotion.
• Understanding user trust and attitudes towards AI recommendations is crucial for effective health interventions.
• The role of human involvement in AI algorithms and message framing requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how message framing and explanations of human knowledge involvement in AI algorithms affect users' trust and attitudes towards chatbot recommendations.
• To investigate the influence of message targeting, human knowledge involvement, and user depression tendency on psychological reactance and subsequent help-seeking behaviors.
• To contribute to the understanding of AI's persuasive mechanisms in health promotion and its application in mental health.

Main Methods:

• An online experiment was conducted with 374 participants.
• A two-level human-machine communication framework was employed.
• Independent variables included chatbot message framing, explanations of human knowledge involvement, message targeting, and user depression tendency.

Main Results:

• Explanations of high human knowledge involvement in AI algorithms significantly increased user trust and positive attitudes toward help-seeking.
• Message targeting, human knowledge involvement, and user depression tendency jointly influenced psychological reactance.
• Psychological reactance mediated the effect of these factors on attitudes toward seeking help from social networks.

Conclusions:

• Transparency regarding human involvement in AI algorithms can enhance user trust in health chatbots.
• AI-driven health promotion messages need careful design considering message targeting and user characteristics to avoid negative psychological reactance.
• Findings offer insights for optimizing AI applications in mental health promotion and persuasive health communication.