Vicious or Virtuous Cycle? Towards a Social Cognitive Framework of the AI Divide

Schmalenbach K, Schwehn TJ, Bruckner M, Lindenmayr M (2024)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Conference contribution, other

Publication year: 2024

Conference Proceedings Title: Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth DIGIT Workshop

Event location: Bangkok TH

Abstract

Given their ability to learn and improve autonomously, and their rich potential to contribute significantly to intellectual value creation, AI applications are becoming enormously popular. However, there is a substantiated concern that not all groups of people will benefit equally from this disruptive development. Despite this concern, research currently lacks empirical evidence on the size of such an AI divide or its evolution over time. Against this backdrop, we draw on social cognitive theory (SCT) and develop a dynamic reciprocal framework that operationalizes three types of factors contributing to the AI divide, which we define as the divergence of individuals’ AI mastery experiences: stable personal factors (1), context-specific personal factors (2), and situational behavioral factors (3). In this paper, we present a planned longitudinal experimental study with university students and adopt a dual perspective on the AI divide. First, by employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) from a static perspective, we aim to identify the factors contributing to the AI divide at a specific point in time. Second, building on this static snapshot, we apply regression analysis and adopt a dynamic perspective to assess its evolution, investigating how repeated AI interactions shape individuals’ AI mastery over time. In doing so, we aim to contribute to a theoretical understanding of the AI divide, including its social consequences resulting from the AI transformation, and provide guidance for the development of interventions aimed at reducing the AI divide.

Authors with CRIS profile

Kian Schmalenbach Schöller Endowed Chair for Information Systems (Digitalization in Business and Society) Tim-Julian Schwehn Schöller Endowed Chair for Information Systems (Digitalization in Business and Society)

Involved external institutions

Universität Augsburg DE Germany (DE) Technische Universität München (TUM) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Schmalenbach, K., Schwehn, T.-J., Bruckner, M., & Lindenmayr, M. (2024). Vicious or Virtuous Cycle? Towards a Social Cognitive Framework of the AI Divide. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth DIGIT Workshop. Bangkok, TH.

MLA:

Schmalenbach, Kian, et al. "Vicious or Virtuous Cycle? Towards a Social Cognitive Framework of the AI Divide." Proceedings of the DIGIT 2024 Workshop, Bangkok 2024.

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