AI adoption: An analysis of unethical behavior among young consumers

Abstract

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a prominent and indispensable contemporary technology in many fields, including business and engineering. This study attempts to explore the adverse aspects of consumer’s AI adoption and shed light on its impact on unethical behavior, especially among the university demographic. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model, and Role Identity Theory, our investigation scrutinizes the impact of AI adoption on unethical behavior through several mediating variables (AI service quality, consumer experience, AI addiction, AI dependence). SPSS 26.0 software was used to delineate the descriptive statistics of the sample, while SmartPLS 4.0 and SPSS Amos 26.0 were used to analyze the data. The study's purpose is to assess how perceived benefits and risks, AI addiction, and AI dependence contribute to unethical behavior in the use of AI. A sample of 389 respondents showed that AI addiction significantly increases the propensity for unethical behavior, while AI dependence has this effect in a less meaningful way. In particular, perceived risk has a positive effect on unethical behavior, indicating that users are perhaps still willing to participate in unethical practices because they are most likely to develop the tendency to take risks or otherwise rationalize their behavior when they have an understanding of the potential for ethical risks concerning the use of AI. Perceived cost, on the other hand, did not seem to have an effect on ethical decision-making. Self-monitoring is also seen to affect unethical behavior, for those higher in self-monitoring adjust their behaviors to the social context, generally favoring unethical behaviors. This interrelationship thus gives more thought to the issue of how AI usage interacts with ethical considerations and human judgment.”