The AI Constraints Paradox: How Psychological Distance and Perceived Ownership Shapes Public Reactions to AI’s Societal Roles [poster]

Rodrigo Asfora Moutinho

The AI Constraints Paradox: How Psychological Distance and Perceived Ownership Shapes Public Reactions to AI’s Societal Roles [poster]

Rodrigo Asfora Moutinho

NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS)

Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster

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Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely used in everyday life—through chatbots, voice assistants, and recommendations. Yet, people trust AI in personal tasks but often resist it in public roles like hiring or healthcare. Why?
This study investigates that paradox through two lenses:
Psychological Distance: Personal AI feels “close” and practical.
Perceived Ownership: Users feel more control in personal use.
Using over 220,000 YouTube comments, we applied sentiment analysis and topic modeling.
Results show:
Personal-use AI (e.g., apps) → more positive reactions
Societal AI (e.g., job automation) → higher negativity
We argue that concrete, personal framing reduces resistance, while abstract, institutional framing triggers skepticism. These findings offer insights for designing more trustworthy AI.

Original language	English
Number of pages	1
Publication status	Published - 10 Jul 2025
Event	Data Research Meetup by MagIC - NOVA Information Management School, Lisboa, Portugal Duration: 10 Jul 2025 → 10 Jul 2025 Conference number: 2 https://www.novaims.unl.pt/en/here-now/events/data-research-meetup-by-magic-2nd-edition/#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=81832afe-7499-42e7-b0b4-01857d250100

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Other	Data Research Meetup by MagIC
Country/Territory	Portugal
City	Lisboa
Period	10/07/25 → 10/07/25
Internet address	https://www.novaims.unl.pt/en/here-now/events/data-research-meetup-by-magic-2nd-edition/#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=81832afe-7499-42e7-b0b4-01857d250100

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AI_Constraints_ParadoxFinal published version, 2.46 MB

Data Research Meetup by MagIC
Vanneschi, L. (Organiser), Pinto, D. C. (Organiser), Oliveira, C. (Organiser) & Hadi, R. (Invited speaker)
10 Jul 2025
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Cite this

@conference{1543b0eec09c43198f863ebb54627dd6,

title = "The AI Constraints Paradox: How Psychological Distance and Perceived Ownership Shapes Public Reactions to AI{\textquoteright}s Societal Roles [poster]",

abstract = "Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely used in everyday life—through chatbots, voice assistants, and recommendations. Yet, people trust AI in personal tasks but often resist it in public roles like hiring or healthcare. Why? This study investigates that paradox through two lenses: Psychological Distance: Personal AI feels “close” and practical. Perceived Ownership: Users feel more control in personal use. Using over 220,000 YouTube comments, we applied sentiment analysis and topic modeling. Results show: Personal-use AI (e.g., apps) → more positive reactions Societal AI (e.g., job automation) → higher negativity We argue that concrete, personal framing reduces resistance, while abstract, institutional framing triggers skepticism. These findings offer insights for designing more trustworthy AI.",

author = "Moutinho, \{Rodrigo Asfora\}",

note = "https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/04152/2025\# https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/PRR/04152/2025\# Moutinho, R. A. (2025). The AI Constraints Paradox: How Psychological Distance and Perceived Ownership Shapes Public Reactions to AI{\textquoteright}s Societal Roles [poster]. Poster session presented at Data Research Meetup by MagIC, Lisboa, Portugal. --- This work was supported by national funds through FCT (Funda{\c c}{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e a Tecnologia), under the project — UIDB/04152 — Centro de Investiga{\c c}{\~a}o em Gest{\~a}o de Informa{\c c}{\~a}o (MagIC) / NOVA IMS. The author also wishes to thank Prof. Diego Costa, Profa. Simoni Rohden, and Prof. Saleh Shuqair for their valuable guidance and feedback throughout this research.; Data Research Meetup by MagIC ; Conference date: 10-07-2025 Through 10-07-2025",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "10",

language = "English",

url = "https://www.novaims.unl.pt/en/here-now/events/data-research-meetup-by-magic-2nd-edition/\#msdynmkt\_trackingcontext=81832afe-7499-42e7-b0b4-01857d250100",

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TY - CONF

T1 - The AI Constraints Paradox

T2 - Data Research Meetup by MagIC

AU - Moutinho, Rodrigo Asfora

N1 - Conference code: 2

PY - 2025/7/10

Y1 - 2025/7/10

N2 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely used in everyday life—through chatbots, voice assistants, and recommendations. Yet, people trust AI in personal tasks but often resist it in public roles like hiring or healthcare. Why? This study investigates that paradox through two lenses: Psychological Distance: Personal AI feels “close” and practical. Perceived Ownership: Users feel more control in personal use. Using over 220,000 YouTube comments, we applied sentiment analysis and topic modeling. Results show: Personal-use AI (e.g., apps) → more positive reactions Societal AI (e.g., job automation) → higher negativity We argue that concrete, personal framing reduces resistance, while abstract, institutional framing triggers skepticism. These findings offer insights for designing more trustworthy AI.

AB - Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely used in everyday life—through chatbots, voice assistants, and recommendations. Yet, people trust AI in personal tasks but often resist it in public roles like hiring or healthcare. Why? This study investigates that paradox through two lenses: Psychological Distance: Personal AI feels “close” and practical. Perceived Ownership: Users feel more control in personal use. Using over 220,000 YouTube comments, we applied sentiment analysis and topic modeling. Results show: Personal-use AI (e.g., apps) → more positive reactions Societal AI (e.g., job automation) → higher negativity We argue that concrete, personal framing reduces resistance, while abstract, institutional framing triggers skepticism. These findings offer insights for designing more trustworthy AI.

M3 - Poster

Y2 - 10 July 2025 through 10 July 2025

ER -

The AI Constraints Paradox: How Psychological Distance and Perceived Ownership Shapes Public Reactions to AI’s Societal Roles [poster]

Abstract

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Data Research Meetup by MagIC

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