We want humans in the loop with AI for critical thinking, empathy and ethics
The Ipsos Consumer Tracker, fielded on Ipsos' Omnibus platform, asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.
Why we asked about humans and AI: One thing we hear all the time is that when it comes to AI we’ll trust it more if there are humans “in the loop,” or even “at the helm.” But we also know that we don’t always trust humans for some of the same things we don’t trust AI for. In some cases, we trust AI more than humans. So what exactly do we think humans will bring to the table?
What we found: First we re-asked the “do you trust humans, AI or both together” as a screener. Anyone who said they want “Humans + AI” for any of the items (which ranged from creating news reports, to air traffic control to creating ads, etc.) got an additional question. “In the previous question, you indicated you trust humans using AI to complete certain functions. Which of the following human characteristics provides you with additional trust over AI alone?” People had the option to select as many answers as they liked.
No single characteristic was picked by a majority of people. The closest was critical thinking, at 37%. Then came a tier of items in the mid-20s, like ethics (24%) understanding of the situation (25%), judgement (23%), quality control (21%), and empathy (19%). Fewer said things like intuition, adaptability and skepticism.
Personally, I’m surprised empathy didn’t rank a bit higher. Skepticism, too. Those are two very human qualities that AI severely lacks, though skepticism can at least be prompted to a degree. But as we continue trying to build trust in AI systems for an America that is itself a global outlier in its skepticism, these are all good traits to keep in mind.
More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:
The close-in economy seems to be even more important when times are tough
More Americans think the world is changing too fast
Workers expect both carrots and sticks in their AI futures
The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about?
