Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-8273-6315
Date of Award
Summer 8-31-2025
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Business Administration
First Advisor
One-Ki Daniel Lee
Second Advisor
Kui Du
Third Advisor
Shan Jiang, and Michael Ahn
Abstract
As artificial intelligence (AI) systems increasingly engage users in autonomous, personalized, and relational ways, human-AI interaction has evolved beyond traditional human-computer paradigms. This dissertation offers a human-centered investigation into the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes underlying engagement with AI technologies. Drawing on socio-technical and psychological frameworks, it examines how users interact with, trust, and sometimes over-rely on AI systems, highlighting the need for theories that account for the interpersonal and persuasive dimensions of AI, as well as strategies for mitigating negative consequences.
Comprising three essays, the dissertation examines AI interactivity, trust development, and over-reliance using behavioral science methods. The first essay applies the interactivity model to AI voice assistants, demonstrating how AI features and user sociability influence perceptions of interaction quality and the intention to use. The second essay combines trust theories and the emotion of awe to explain how positive and negative perceptions interact in a nonlinear and synergistic way in trust formation. The third essay explores the effect of AI explainability on users' cognitive processing in AI recommender systems, considering how personal relevance, context, and dispositional factors play a role. It shows that overreliance may continue even with high explainability, while identifying conditions under which it can be reduced. Overall, the essays help redefine human-AI interaction as a complex and dynamic process, providing both theoretical and practical insights for designing AI systems that promote appropriate trust and responsible user behavior.
Recommended Citation
Yoon, YoungHo, "From Trust to Overreliance: Understanding the Evolution of Human-AI Interactions and the Role of AI Explainability" (2025). Graduate Doctoral Dissertations. 1116.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/doctoral_dissertations/1116
Comments
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