Acceptance of ChatGPT in the communication industry

Artificial intelligence-based tools such as ChatGPT have captured significant interest from marketing and PR practitioners due to their creative potential and productivity gains, but have also raised some concerns. Despite the growing popularity of the technology, there is a notable lack of research into its uptake in the communications industry and a general lack of focus on scepticism around technology adoption. Our study, which focuses on marketing and PR practitioners and combines the technology acceptance model with risk psychology theory, aims to address these research gaps. In particular, it examines the role of a previously under-researched factor in technology acceptance studies - technology scepticism - along with other relevant factors that influence the acceptance of ChatGPT in the communications industry. Our research shows that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness positively influence attitudes towards use, which in turn encourages intentions to use among communication professionals. The perceived quality of the output has a positive effect on the perceived usefulness and attitude towards use. Scepticism proves to be a critical psychological factor that has a negative impact on perceived usefulness and attitudes towards use. This shows how important it is to consider psychological elements when investigating the acceptance of AI tools. Finally, our study offers valuable insights for both theory and practice.