Investigation into the Influence of Socio-Cultural Factors on Attitudes toward Artificial Intelligence

• Published in: Education and information technologies Vol. 29; no. 8; pp. 9907 - 9935
• Main Authors: Kim, Seong-Won, Lee, Youngjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Artificial intelligence; Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences; Computer Science; Computers and Education; Education; Educational Technology; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); Middle school students; Student attitudes; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Socio-cultural; Middle school student; Digital disparity; Attitude; Disadvantaged; Artificial intelligence
• ISSN: 1360-2357; 1573-7608
• DOI: 10.1007/s10639-023-12172-y

In this study, the influence of socio-cultural factors on attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) was investigated. In total, 1,677 Korean middle school students were selected to participate, and a test tool was used to measure the attitude toward AI. As a result, according to socio-cultural factors, middle school students’ attitudes toward AI were affected differently by gender- or AI-related experiences. In particular, students experiencing difficulties because of socio-cultural factors showed a more positive attitude toward AI if they had an AI education. On the other hand, interest toward AI and programming experience had a significant effect on attitudes toward AI and was not affected by socio-cultural factors. In particular, students with high interest toward AI or experience with block- and text-based programming languages showed significantly positive attitudes toward AI. Hence, the disparity in middle school students’ attitude toward AI according to socio-cultural factors was found.