Multi-Level AI Trustworthiness Labels Scale Potential Users’ Perceptions and Evaluations of AI Products

(Potential) users of artificial intelligence (AI) products (e.g., smart fridges, voice assistants) are most often not fully informed about the data security and data privacy (DSDP) of these AI products as such information is not available in an easily accessible format. Here, I argue that it is essential to provide (potential) users with such information presented in an easily accessible and quick-to-process format as this could help instill appropriate levels of (dis-)trust and thus support (trustworthy) AI acceptance and adoption. Testing the effect of AI trustworthiness labels, I presented participants with hypothetical AI products that were versus were not paired with a graphical or text-based label indicating a low to high DSDP level. Trust, AI anxiety, as well as the monetary value attributed to AI products scaled with an AI trustworthiness label’s DSDP level. Importantly, participants’ ratings of unlabeled AI products corresponded to their perceptions of AI products labeled with an intermediate DSDP level. This apparent bias towards intermediate DSDP judgements in the absence of information on AI products underscores the relevance of explicitly communicating AI trustworthiness to (potential) users. Interestingly, differences in trust for AI products with a high as compared to intermediate DSDP level further increased with more positive attitudes towards AI technology.