Trust in, Trustworthiness of and Trust Adjustment Towards Technology Human-Machine-Interaction Within a Tension of Communicative Capabilities, Cooperation and Familiarity with Technology

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of the increasingly communicative and cooperative abilities of innovative, e.g., AI-based technical applications for the triad of trust (in technology), trustworthiness (of technology) and trust adjustment (towards technology). It also raises the question of the role of familiarity (with technology) in this context. Trust is essential in both interpersonal interaction as well as in human-technology interaction. In particular, new communicative potentials of technical applications in direct interaction with users can promote the cooperative interaction of people and technology based on trust in completely new forms. Applications that can, for example, provide immediate feedback on their functions, as well as on possible uncertainties, e.g., in the case of diagnostic recommendations, could not only strengthen basic confidence in the technology itself. As specific components in the human-technology interaction, these kinds of feedback could at the same time promote the claim of trustworthiness of applications (and developers), as well as the assignment of trustworthiness on the part of users. In addition, however, they can also support a point critical for the interaction with technology: the continuous adjustment of trust levels on the part of the users towards the applications can prevent a loss of critical distance that could arise precisely due to an unjustified general assignment of trustworthiness. Consequently, emphasizing the direct importance of the factor of familiarity (with technology) for the triadic relationship between trust (in technology), trustworthiness (of technology) and trust adjustment (against technology) is essential.