The relationship between optimism-pessimism and fear of Artificial Intelligence in young adults from four Arab countries: The mediating effect of seeing a dark future

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to assess fear of AI in relation with optimism and pessimism, along with the mediating effect of dark future Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted between June and December 2023, and enrolled 1849 participants from four Arab countries: Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Palestine. Results The results of the mediation analysis showed that dark future fully mediated the associations between pessimism and fear of AI and between optimism and fear of AI; higher pessimism was significantly associated with more dark future, whereas more dark future was significantly associated with higher fear of AI. Higher optimism was significantly associated with less dark future, and more dark future associated with higher fear of AI. Pessimism and optimism were not directly associated with fear of AI in both models. Conclusion This study suggests that pessimism and optimism can influence one’s fear of artificial intelligence through his perception of a dark future. This can be helpful in developing future research concerning attitude towards Artificial intelligence and has a role when it comes to clinical implication concerning the treatment of fear of artificial intelligence and its acceptance.