Unveiling the role of honesty-humility in shaping attitudes towards artificial intelligence

Abstract

The rapid advancement and integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into various aspects of human life necessitates understanding individual differences in attitudes towards AI. Typically, the Big Five has been applied to explore these individual differences; however, this model may overlook a critical dimension related to ethical AI use: Honesty-Humility, a sixth dimension included in the HEXACO model. In three studies (N₁ = 138, N₂ = 176, N₃ = 1571), we investigated the relationship between personality traits, as measured by the HEXACO, and attitudes towards AI. Consistently across all studies, the strongest (negative) relation was found between Honesty-Humility and a positive attitude towards AI (β₁ = −0.36^⁎⁎, β ₂ = −0.20^⁎⁎, β₃ = −0.28^⁎⁎⁎), suggesting that individuals scoring lower on Honesty-Humility are more inclined to view AI favorably. Additionally, Openness (β₂ = 0.18^⁎, β₃ = 0.06^**) was related to attitude towards AI in two studies. Relationships with other personality traits were minor and inconsistent. The predictive power of Honesty-Humility was higher than the other five dimensions of the HEXACO combined, and higher than the three traits of the Dark Triad - Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy. Our results stress the need to incorporate personality psychology into AI research and ethical AI development.