The sad fact is that many people don’t trust decisions, answers, or recommendations from artificial intelligence. In one survey of U.S. consumers, when presented with a list of popular AI services (for example, home assistants, financial planning, medical diagnosis, and hiring), 41.5% of respondents said they didn’t trust any of these services. Only 9% of respondents said they trusted AI with their financials, and only 4% trusted AI in the employee hiring process. In another survey, 2,000 U.S. consumers were asked, “When you think about AI, which feelings best describe your emotions?” “Interested” was the most common response (45%), but it was closely followed by “concerned” (40.5%), “skeptical” (40.1%), “unsure” (39.1%), and “suspicious” (29.8%).
What’s the problem here? And can it be overcome? I believe several issues need to be addressed if AI is to be trusted in businesses and in society.