People trust humans more than AI, but when they think about God, they accept AI advice more than their peers. That’s according to a new study published in the journal Keisha Cutright, a marketing professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Catwright and Mustafa Karatash of Nazarbayev University found in eight experiments that “actively thinking about God” promoted acceptance of AI advice in a variety of contexts, including movie selection, financial products, dental treatment and romantic partners.

“Thoughts about God influence how we see things around us and how we make decisions,” Cutright said. “When I realized that AI and technology are similar to religion in many ways, because both are often seen as reducing the role of humans. We wanted to see if the importance of God could affect the way people trust AI.”

In their experiment, the researchers randomly assigned half of the participants a task or experience that would get them thinking about God. In one study, they asked them to write down what God meant to them. In other experiments, they used more subtle religious cues, such as exposing people in a dental clinic waiting room to music that spoke of God versus secular music; or comparing how proximity to a place of worship affects choice.

“Of course, we also measured whether or not the participants were religious,” Cutright said. “Because if you’re religious, you’re more likely to put God first.”

The results showed that when people actively think about God, they are less averse to AI and more willing to consider AI-based suggestions.

“Whether we’re believers or not, we know that God is associated with a sense of power, abomination, and wonder,” Cutright said. “This reverence before the divine makes people feel small and fallible.”

Cutright said the results don’t completely change people’s overall preference for human advice, but they certainly show that humans don’t have a huge advantage over AI when God is visible.

“Human choice is pretty strong, but it starts to weaken a bit when you bring up thoughts of God,” he said. “It’s still not going to change to the point where humans prefer AI over humans, but it’s probably close to 50/50 in many cases now.”

He also said that research shows that religious people in general prefer AI advice more than non-religious people. Cutright said companies should consider these findings when targeting specific markets.

“Contrary to most people’s intuition, regions with more religious populations might be a good place to start with AI-based recommendations,” he said.

He also said that companies using artificial intelligence should think carefully about their communications.

“They can use it as a reminder of the smallness of humanity, through clues about God directly or other awe-inspiring stimuli,” Cutright says. Said. “This can increase consumer openness to AI-based recommendations.” Source