Motivational and psychological variables related to unethical uses of artificial intelligence in academics and online interactions

A study was conducted to investigate motivational and psychological variables related to unethical uses of generative artificial intelligence across multiple life domains (academics and online interactions). This exploratory study revealed that performing potentially unethical behaviors in one area of life (e.g., academics) was positively related to frequency of performing unethical behaviors in another area of life (e.g., social media interactions). Using AI unethically was positively related to knowing that the use was unethical. Unethical AI use was not related to intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, but was positively related to results pressure, external pressure, and time pressure, which explained a large amount of variance in academic dishonesty, using AI to cheat in academics, and digitally altering photos of the self. Unethical AI use was also positively related to a desire for social media popularity and finding meaning in social media posts being popular. Unethical uses of AI were not related to self-esteem, self-efficacy, or loneliness, but were positively related to satisfaction with life, narcissism, making social comparisons, internalizing the perspective of others about their own body, prioritizing physical appearance over other attributes, and comparing one’s physical appearance with others. Using AI to create memes was positively related to satisfaction with life and using memes to improve relationships. This study provided evidence that despite ethical issues, generative AI is being used across multiple domains of life and is largely associated with positive consequences for the self.