The role of uncertainty and affect in decision-making on the adoption of AI-based contact-tracing technology during the COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE: This study explores how negative affect, perceived net equity, and uncertainty influence the public's privacy decision-making regarding the adoption of contact-tracing technology based on artificial intelligence (AI) during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Four hundred and eighteen adults in the US participated in the study via Amazon Mechanical Turk in August 2020. Statistical analyses were performed using the PROCESS macro. Indirect effects and their significance were estimated using bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs) with resampling set to n = 5000. RESULTS: Perceived net equity was positively associated with low levels of perceived uncertainty regarding a COVID-19 contact-tracing application and intention to adopt it. Low levels of perceived uncertainty were positively associated with intentions to adopt such an application, thereby suggesting that a perceived level of uncertainty mediates the association between perceived net equity and adoption intentions. Anxieties regarding AI technology and COVID-19 risks both moderate the associations among perceived net equity, perceived level of uncertainty, and intentions to adopt the contact-tracing technology. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight how the differing sources of emotion influence the associations among rational judgment, perceptions, and decision-making about new contact-tracing technology. Overall, the results suggest that both rational judgments and affective reactions to risks are important influencers of individuals’ perceptions and privacy-related decision-making regarding a new health technology during the pandemic.