Affective Responses to AI: Understanding the Link Between Emotions and User Attitudes

This research seeks to investigate user attitudes and emotional responses towards artificial intelligence through the application of the General Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence Scale and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. In order to do this, it utilized a cross-sectional survey design, gathering data from 94 participants, and thereby assessing the relationships between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and emotional states. Results indicated high correlation values between positive attitudes towards AI and positive affect and, conversely, between negative attitudes and negative affect. Additionally, perceived usefulness strongly correlated with both positive attitudes towards AI and emotional well-being. Results clearly support the role of emotional factors in shaping user acceptance of AI technologies. This is highlighted as a need for developers to consider these emotional dynamics when designing AI systems to make user experience better and foster acceptance. In addition, it would be more favourable to develop positive attitudes toward AI if it makes it easier to use and seems useful. The limitations, as part of the sample size, include the reliance on self-report measures and provide recommendations for the future research areas - longitudinal effects and other influencing factors. Future studies may also develop research in understanding how demographic variables shape attitudes toward AI and thus create deeper insights into user experiences in various populations.