University of Georgia, USA.
Public Underst Sci. 2020 May;29(4):436-451. doi: 10.1177/0963662520917339.
Applications in artificial intelligence such as self-driving cars may profoundly transform our society, yet emerging technologies are frequently faced with suspicion or even hostility. Meanwhile, public opinions about scientific issues are increasingly polarized along the ideological line. By analyzing a nationally representative panel in the United States, we reveal an emerging ideological divide in public reactions to self-driving cars. Compared with liberals and Democrats, conservatives and Republicans express more concern about autonomous vehicles and more support for restrictively regulating autonomous vehicles. This ideological gap is largely driven by social conservatism. Moreover, both familiarity with driverless vehicles and scientific literacy reduce respondents' concerns over driverless vehicles and support for regulation policies. Still, the effects of familiarity and scientific literacy are weaker among social conservatives, indicating that people may assimilate new information in a biased manner that promotes their worldviews.
人工智能在自动驾驶汽车等领域的应用可能会深刻改变我们的社会，但新兴技术常常面临质疑甚至敌意。与此同时，公众对科学问题的看法也沿着意识形态的路线日益两极分化。通过分析美国一个具有全国代表性的小组，我们揭示了公众对自动驾驶汽车反应中出现的新的意识形态分歧。与自由派和民主党人相比，保守派和共和党人对自动驾驶汽车表示更多的担忧，对自动驾驶汽车的监管也表示更多的支持。这种意识形态的差距在很大程度上是由社会保守主义驱动的。此外，对无人驾驶车辆的熟悉程度和科学素养都降低了受访者对无人驾驶车辆的担忧，并支持监管政策。不过，在社会保守派中，熟悉程度和科学素养的影响较弱，这表明人们可能会以一种促进他们世界观的有偏见的方式同化新信息。
