Neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in potential anxiety about AI

Abstract

The potential anxiety of humans toward AI (e.g., AI will dominate humans) is one of the major barriers to realizing a society in which humans live in harmony with AI. As a fundamental investigation to eliminate such anxiety from humans, this study aims to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in such anxiety. To this end, individual differences in brain response were analyzed using fMRI signals evoked by movies related to AI and robots. Meanwhile, individual differences in the participants’ anxiety toward AI were also assessed using questionnaires. Then, the relationship between these two types of individual differences was examined. The results showed that individual differences in responses, especially in the superior temporal cortex, which is thought to be involved in social cognition, correlated with individual differences in anxiety. This finding provides key insights into the neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in anxiety toward AI.