Associating attitudes towards AI and ambiguity: The distinction of acceptance and fear of AI

Since the emergence of ChatGPT, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly integrated into society, making it essential to understand how individuals perceive and interact with it. Given AI's inherent ambiguity and uncertainty, this study examined the relationship between attitudes towards AI and ambiguity. A survey of 554 Japanese participants was conducted using questionnaires, including the Attitude Towards Artificial Intelligence (ATAI) scale, which assesses two key dimensions, acceptance, and fear, along with the Multidimensional Attitudes Towards Ambiguity Scale. The findings indicated that the Japanese version of the ATAI, developed for the first time in this study, demonstrated strong internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity. Consistent with prior literature, psychometric properties were supported by AI usage, willingness to use AI, and expected correlations with personality traits. Text-based predictions using natural language processing reinforced this finding, showing significant associations with ATAI scores. This study is the first to examine how attitudes towards AI relate to ambiguity, revealing that Need for complexity and Novelty, and Discomfort with Ambiguity predict AI acceptance and fear. Absolutism was positively correlated with both. These results indicate that attitudes towards AI were inherently complex and multidimensional, offering insights into effective and sustainable AI engagement as an ambiguous agent.