The Effect of AI Benevolence on Humans’ Trust and Use of an AI Assistant in a Video Game
Hecun Liu, Shangjia Xu, Shengyang Wu, Ashley D. Warren, Thomas S. Redick · Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · 2025
Recent studies stress the importance of trust in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. Previous studies have primarily focused on how the ability and integrity (transparency) of AI affect people’s trust and usage intention. However, few studies have explored the role of benevolence. This study investigates how the perceived benevolence of AI assistants influences users’ trust and willingness to interact with them. Through an interactive video game, participants interacted with either a benevolent AI assistant (prioritizing user safety and well-being) or a non-benevolent AI assistant (prioritizing its own goals). The AI assistant communicated with the subjects by using text boxes. After completing the task, participants completed a questionnaire that included topics about trust, perceived benevolence, and willingness to use. The results from two experiments showed that the benevolent AI assistant significantly enhanced perceived trust and increased users’ willingness to cooperate with the AI assistant in future interactions.