By Kathy Deters
Aug. 8, 2025
When it comes to allowing artificial intelligence (AI) into our lives, how we view it predicts our willingness to accept it, says Bingqing Li, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Missouri’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business.
Li and research partners Edward Yuhang Lai and Xin (Shane) Wang examined what drives people to accept or reject AI, especially as it becomes more autonomous and socially present. Their meta-analysis of nearly 120,000 participants discovered that certain AI features, including capability, transparency, role, expertise scope and anthropomorphism, impact acceptance differently depending on whether AI is perceived as a tool or an agent capable of acting on its own.
“As AI becomes increasingly capable of acting autonomously and interacting in socially intelligent ways, it is now viewed not only as a technological tool but also as an agentic entity,” Li said. “However, current understanding of people’s willingness to accept AI has largely focused on the perspective of AI as a tool, leaving gaps in how agentic aspects shape acceptance.”
Li’s innovative study is the first meta-analysis to synthesize human acceptance of AI through a dual-perspective lens and to map actionable design features. The researchers also launched a web-based tool that lets users explore the data interactively.
“This research addresses a critical question: As AI grows more powerful, agent-like, and embedded in daily life and work, what makes people comfortable accepting it and how can businesses design AI systems that people are willing to use?” Li asked.
The findings have implications for product development and marketing teams, AI and UX designers, tech media, industry practitioners responsible for designing or deploying AI systems, public sector stakeholders involved in AI adoption, interdisciplinary researchers exploring human-AI interaction and others.
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