Is Ethics Really Such a Big Deal? The Influence of Perceived Usefulness of AI-based Surveillance Technology on Ethical Decision-Making in Scenarios of Public Surveillance

Abstract

So far, ethical perspectives have been neglected in empirical research focusing on the acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI)-based surveillance technologies on an individual level. This paper addresses this research gap by examining the individual moral intent to accept AI-based surveillance technologies deployed in public scenarios. After a thorough literature review to identify antecedents of moral intent, we surveyed n = 112 American participants in an online survey on mTurk and analyzed the data by using a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. The resulting antecedent configurations provide insights into the inherent ethical decision-making process and thus contribute to a better understanding of the causality for accepting or rejecting AI-based surveillance technologies. Our findings emphasize in particular the influence of perceived usefulness of the technology on the ethical decision-making process.