How government uses of artificial intelligence affect the perceived warmth and competence of civil servants

This article tests the argument that the reliance on AI systems affects people’s affective ties to government employees using AI systems. Drawing on social cognition theory, it examines how AI use influences the perceived warmth of public servants and the acceptability of decision-making. It distinguishes between two settings in the education system that differ regarding how directly citizens are affected by AI use, a teacher using AI to help assess students and a public servant allocating funds among schools. The analysis is based on a pre-registered vignette experiment and a sample of 4,569 participants from Norway. It finds that AI use decreases both the perceived warmth and competence of public servants, that these evaluations negatively bear on the overall acceptability of decision-making, and that the effect of AI use is stronger for public servants more directly interacting with citizens. The findings have important implications for the legitimacy of public organizations.