Customers’ acceptance of artificially intelligent service robots: The influence of trust and culture

This study addresses two critical research gaps in human-robot interaction (HRI): the limited systematic research on the role of trust in customers’ acceptance of artificially intelligent (AI) robots; and the lack of understanding of robot acceptance under different cultural backgrounds. Drawing on the AIDUA framework, this study examines the impacts of trust and moderating effects of both national (the U.S. and China) and individual culture on customers’ intentions to use AI robots in hospitality services by developing a theoretical model. The model is tested on data collected using online data collection platforms from 491 U.S. and 495 Chinese respondents. PLS-SEM and the bootstrapping method were used to test the hypothesized relationships and analyze the moderating effects of culture, respectively. The findings suggest that trust in interaction with AI robots is a significant higher-order construct that influences the intention of use. Furthermore, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and power distance have been found to exhibit significant moderation effects. The results of this study extend the theoretical frameworks in HRI and provide detailed guidance to promote AI robot applications across different cultures.     

Superstars in the making? The broad effects of interdisciplinary centers

Many universities have developed large-scale interdisciplinary research centers to address societal challenges and to attract the attention of private philanthropists and federal agencies. However, prior studies have mostly shown that interdisciplinary centers relate to a narrow band of outcomes such as publishing and grants. Therefore, we shift attention to include outcomes that have been the centers mandate to influence ? namely outreach to the media and private industry, as well as broader research endeavors and securing external funding. Using data covering Stanford University between 1993 and 2014, we study if being weakly and strongly affiliated with interdisciplinary centers in one year relates to and increases (1) knowledge production (publications, grants and inventions), (2) instruction (numbers of students taught, PhDs and postdocs advised), (3) intellectual prominence (media mentions, awards won and centrality within the larger collaboration network), and (4) the acquisition of various sources of funding in the next year. Our results indicate that interdisciplinary centers select productive faculty and increase their activity on a broad range of outcomes further, and in ways greater than departments and traditional interdisciplinary memberships, such as courtesy and joint appointments.     

The effects of the English libel laws on medicine and research – a personal view

Dr Peter Wilmshurst is a consultant cardiologist. He is a leader in his field, and also a whistleblower, drawing attention to that which he believes to be wrong. He was presented with the HealthWatch Award 2003. Peter Wilmshurst has clashed with universities, editors, the medical establishment, and – perhaps inevitably – with the pharmaceutical industry. It is this last encounter that has taken him to court and that has made explicit and very public the relevance of the UK's libel laws to scientific research.     

Computers in control: Rational transfer of authority or irresponsible abdication of autonomy?

To what extent should humans transfer, or abdicate, “responsibility” to computers? In this paper, I distinguish six different senses of ‘responsible’ and then consider in which of these senses computers can, and in which they cannot, be said to be “responsible” for “deciding” various outcomes. I sort out and explore two different kinds of complaint against putting computers in greater “control” of our lives: (i) as finite and fallible human beings, there is a limit to how far we can acheive increased reliability through complex devices of our own design; (ii) even when computers are more reliable than humans, certain tasks (e.g., selecting an appropriate gift for a friend, solving the daily crossword puzzle) are inappropriately performed by anyone (or anything) other than oneself. In critically evaluating these claims, I arrive at three main conclusions: (1) While we ought to correct for many of our shortcomings by availing ourselves of the computer's larger memory, faster processing speed and greater stamina, we are limited by our own finiteness and fallibility (rather than by whatever limitations may be inherent in silicon and metal) in the ability to transcend our own unreliability. Moreover, if we rely on programmed computers to such an extent that we lose touch with the human experience and insight that formed the basis for their programming design, our fallibility is magnified rather than mitigated. (2) Autonomous moral agents can reasonably defer to greater expertise, whether human or cybernetic. But they cannot reasonably relinquish “background-oversight” responsibility. They must be prepared, at least periodically, to review whether the “expertise” to which they defer is indeed functioning as he/she/it was authorized to do, and to take steps to revoke that authority, if necessary. (3) Though outcomes matter, it can also matter how they are brought about, and by whom. Thus, reflecting on how much of our lives should be directed and implemented by computer may be another way of testing any thoroughly end-state or consequentialist conception of the good and decent life. To live with meaning and purpose, we need to actively engage our own faculties and empathetically connect up with, and resonate to, others. Thus there is some limit to how much of life can be appropriately lived by anyone (or anything) other than ourselves.     

Intellectual capital or signal? The effects of scientists on alliance formation in knowledge-intensive industries

Hiring employees with advanced education, training, and experience has been a prevalent human resource practice in dynamic science-based industries, and a growing body of literature has demonstrated the importance of scientists in such fields. Little research has attempted to distinguish the functional from the symbolic roles of scientists, however. We develop an integrative theoretical framework to separate the productive and legitimating effects of scientists on strategic alliance formation of firms. Results from a longitudinal analysis of more than 300 U.S. biotechnology firms between 1988 and 1999 suggest a positive relationship between ratio of scientists and R&D alliance partners as well as a positive relationship with finance alliance partners. Scientists influence partner attraction more strongly for firms that are less-well-connected, and they become less prominent in fostering finance ties as the industry practice of partnership becomes more institutionalized. We conclude that scientists serve more than just a research function in knowledge-intensive industries. Implications for building interorganizational networks and managing human resources in such industries are discussed.     

The “human side” of open innovation: The role of employee diversity in firm-level openness

The use of external knowledge for innovation (i.e., inbound or outside-in open innovation) has received substantial attention in the innovation literature. However, the “human side” of open innovation is still poorly understood. We consider the role of employee characteristics with respect to predicting firm-level openness. Drawing on the human capital, learning and creativity literatures, we theorize that knowledge diversity of the firm’s employees is positively associated with employees’ ability to identify and absorb external knowledge, which aggregates to increased firm-level openness—that is, firms’ use of external knowledge in their pursuit of innovation. Based on a combination of three data sources, namely, two survey data sources and register data, we find support for our hypothesis that employees’ educational diversity is positively associated with firm-level openness. However, we find no direct association between employees’ work history diversity and firm-level openness but rather—as also hypothesized—a conditional relationship based on educational background, which implies that diverse work history only has a positive impact at higher levels of educational diversity. To reduce endogeneity concerns, we undertake a series of robustness checks.     

The impact of AI: can a robot get into the University of Tokyo?

<正>The ‘Todai Robot Project(Can a robot get into the University of Tokyo?)’ was initiated by the National Institute of Informatics(NII),the Japan’s only general academic research institution of informatics,in 2011 as an AI grand challenge.he goal of the project is to create an AI system that answers real questions on university entrance     

The influence of information depth and information breadth on brokers’ idea newness in online maker communities

Social networks provide individuals with diverse or redundant information depending on the network structure. Both types of information offer advantages for generating new ideas. At the same time, network structure and network content are independent. As a result, two individuals with the same network position can access diverse or redundant content from their social peers. In this study, we investigate the function of social networks in innovative endeavors given individuals’ different kinds of information accessing behavior. In accordance with previous research, we argue that individuals with a broker status access more diverse information through non-redundant network structures and develop, on average, more novel ideas. We further propose that redundancy in content complements brokers’ structural non-redundancy by providing familiar knowledge elements and therefore interpretability, while non-redundancy in both content and structure leads to information overload. Thus, we hypothesize that brokers accessing more information depth, and independently, less information breadth generate newer ideas. To test our hypotheses, we collected data from a popular online maker community containing 18,146 ideas, 19,919 profiles, and 52,663 comments. We used topic modeling (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) to extract hidden knowledge elements and social network analysis to identify brokers. In line with our hypotheses, we find that information depth (breadth) strengthens (weakens) a favorable broker position. These findings have implications for the literature on idea generation in social networks and household sector innovation.     

Approach or avoid? The dualistic effects of envy on social media users’ behavioral intention

People express themselves through posts or selfies with brands and activities on social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook and Instagram. This user-generated content provides adequate social information that may elicit the emotions of users who are exposed to such content on these online platforms. Although academic researchers have focused on factors affecting users’ emotions on SNSs, how users reconcile both positive and negative emotions to their attitude and behavior in triadic interactions remains unclear. The current study attempted to answer this research question through the lens of social comparison theory by investigating the effects of tie strength and focus of attention as two forces eliciting online social comparisons on emotional consequences measured through pleasure and envy. Moreover, the dualistic effects of the two distinct types of envy, namely benign and malicious, and the effect of pleasure on users’ approach and avoidance behavior were explored and hypothesized. The results indicated that strong ties triggered more benign envy compared with malicious envy. Furthermore, benign envy positively affected brand attitude and SNS avoidance in terms of exhaustion, whereas malicious envy negatively influenced brand attitude and increased the likelihood of SNS avoidance in terms of both exhaustion and discontinuance.     

Applying a principle of explicability to AI research in Africa: should we do it?

Ethics and Information Technology - Developing and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) systems in an ethical manner faces several challenges specific to the kind of technology at hand,...     

The perceived moral qualities of web sites: implications for persuasion processes in human–computer interaction

This study extended the scope of previous findings in human–computer interaction research within the computers are social actors paradigm by showing that online users attribute perceptions of moral qualities to Websites and, further, that differential perceptions of morality affected the extent of persuasion. In an experiment (N = 138) that manipulated four morality conditions (universalist, relativist, egotistic, control) across worldview, a measured independent variable, users were asked to evaluate a Web site designed to aid them in making ethical decisions. Web sites offered four different types of ethical advice as participants contemplated cases involving ethical quandaries. Perceptions of the Web sites’ moral qualities varied depending on the type of advice given. Further, the Web sites’ perceived morality and participants’ worldview predicted credibility, persuasiveness, and attitudes toward the Web sites.     

The power of talk: Exploring the effects of streamers’ linguistic styles on sales performance in B2B livestreaming commerce

B2B livestreaming has become increasingly popular, but few studies have investigated the role of streamers in these B2B livestreaming events. In contrast to the existing studies that explored the appearance and professionalism of streamers and focused on the B2C livestreaming commerce, this study analyzes how streamers’ linguistic characteristics relate to the livestreaming sales performance in online B2B marketplaces by conducting a streamer-level analysis. By combining deep learning and econometric analysis on a livestreaming dataset consisting of 915 livestreaming events across 14 industry categories from a B2B commerce platform, this study specifically examines the impact of three speech acts (i.e., assertive, expressive, and directive speech acts) on sales performance. We first extract three speech acts by combining Word2Vec and Bi-GRU network with Attention Mechanism (WBA), then use econometric models to examine the effect of the streamer's speech acts on sales performance, and finally explore the moderating roles of product-level factors (i.e., product novelty and product category). The results show that the assertive and directive acts have a positive effect on sales performance, but the expressive acts have a negative effect on the sales performance. In addition, this study also provides strong evidence that the effects of these speech acts on sales performance are highly dependent on the novelty of the live product. This moderating effect is particularly significant for sensory products.     

Batman forever? The role of trademarks for reuse in the US comics industry

We study how trademarks affect reuse of creative works in the comics industry. As a creative industry, the comics industry systematically relies on copyrights. But trademark protection can also be exploited to generate income from the reuse of comic characters or to strategically exclude others from reuse. Our unique data set combines US trademark records of comic characters with information on reuse in print media and franchise products from 1990 to 2017. We find that, on average, additional trademark protection is associated with a reduction in reuse in printed comic books of about 19%. We highlight three mechanisms: first, the negative relationship between trademarking and reuse has been especially pronounced since the early 2000s, when the arrival of digital technologies lowered the costs of entry, promotion, and distribution. Second, our results are driven by less reuse by third parties, not trademark holders. Third, reuse is higher when trademark owners license comic characters to third parties. The negative association between trademarking and reuse carries over to franchise products, but it is weaker and tied to the era of digitization, with a 2% decline in reuse in franchise movies and 9% lower reuse in video games.     

The skeleton in the closet: should historians of science care about the history of mathematics?

Up until the 1950s, the history of mathematics was an integral part of the history of science. To George Sarton and his contemporaries, mathematics was the rational skeleton that organized science and held it together, and its history was a fundamental component of the broader history of science. But when historians began focusing on the cultural roots of science rather than its rational structure, the study of mathematics was marginalized and ultimately excluded from the history of science. The alienation between the two fields is detrimental to both, and in recent years there has been a sustained effort to reestablish meaningful communication between the two. This time, however, mathematics is seen not as the static skeleton of science but, instead, as a dynamic and historically evolving field in its own right-just like science itself. The new approach allows for a culturally sensitive study of mathematics, as well as a new and fruitful relationship between the history of science and the history of mathematics. The essays in this Focus section offer a sampling of the new approaches, opening the way to a rapprochement between fields that have gone their separate ways but should by rights be closely interconnected.     

The anatomy of a troll? Patent licensing business models in the light of patent reassignment data

We examine patent licensing business models of non-practicing entities that generate revenue by selling, licensing, or litigating patents. They may also pursue R&D activities, invent new technologies, or provide services to inventors or product companies. We describe their business models and patent market behavior and then compare their litigation strategies against product companies using a matched sample of highly comparable patents. The main differences among patent licensing firms stem from their technological capabilities, patent portfolio sizes, and external relationships. We find that licensing firms with technological capabilities often pursue litigation until decision and engage in forum shopping. In contrast, litigation incidence, parties involved, and outcomes are primarily determined by patent characteristics, not entity types. Licensing business models drive the acquisition of certain types of patents that influence the outcomes of the patent system. We argue that patent policy should strengthen mechanisms to discover invention quality rather than focus on the amount of litigation or types of entities.     

Can the inerter be a successful shock-absorber? The case of a ball-screw inerter with a variable thread lead

This paper investigates an application of a ball-screw inerter for mitigation of impact loadings. The problem of impact absorption is to provide a minimum reaction force that optimally decelerates and eventually stops an impacting object within the available absorber stroke. It significantly differs from vibration mitigation problems which are typical application of inerters. The paper demonstrates that the optimum absorption can be achieved by fully passive means. For known values of the object mass and inerter parameters, the obtained solution is independent of the impact velocity. The optimum passive absorption is achieved by employing a variable thread lead. As a result, two force components emerge, the typical inertance-related force and a damping-like term, and sum up to provide the optimum constant deceleration force. This result is relatively unique: conventional absorbers do not provide a constant force even with complex active control systems. Finally, an optimization problem is formulated to reduce the influence of process uncertainties (range of possible mass values, unknown friction). The results are verified and analyzed in a numerical example.     

Complements or substitutes? The role of universities and local context in supporting the creation of academic spin-offs

In this paper, we analyze the extent to which University-Level Support Mechanisms (ULSMs) and Local-Context Support Mechanisms (LCSMs) complement or substitute for each other in fostering the creation of academic spin-offs. Using a sample of 404 companies spun off from the 64 Italian Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics universities (STEM universities) over the 2000–2007 period, we show that the ULSMs’ marginal effect on universities’ spin-off productivity may be positive or negative depending on the contribution offered by different LCSMs. Specifically, in any given region, ULSMs complement the legislative support offered to high-tech entrepreneurship whereas they have a substitution effect with regard to the amount of regional social capital, regional financial development, the presence of a regional business incubator, regional public R&D expenses as well as the level of innovative performance in the region. Results support the idea that regional settings’ idiosyncrasies should be considered for universities to develop effective spin-off support policies. This paper contributes to the debate on the evaluation of economic policies supporting entrepreneurship.     

Which firms benefit from investments in green energy technologies? – The effect of energy costs

Firms will invest in green energy technologies only if these investments have an economic pay-off. Based on unique firm-level data from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, we find that the marginal effect of investments in green energy technologies on productivity is positive only for the 19% of firms with the highest energy costs. These results have major implications for companies and policy makers regarding the design of green energy policies and incentives.     

Conscientious workmen or booksellers' hacks? The professional identities of science writers in the mid-nineteenth century

Existing scholarship on the debates over expertise in mid-nineteenth-century Britain has demonstrated the importance of popular writings on the sciences to definitions of scientific authority. Yet while men of science might position themselves in opposition to the stereotype of the merely popular writer, the self-identity of the popular writer remained ambiguous. This essay examines the careers of William Charles Linnaeus Martin (1798-1864) and Thomas Milner (1808-ca. 1883) and places them in the context of others who made their living by writing works on the sciences for the general reader. Martin wrote on zoology and Milner moved between astronomy, geology, and geography. The essay unravels the close but ambivalent relationship between the professions of authorship and of science and highlights writing as another aspect of scientific practice. Both writers were moderately financially successful, but Martin's sense of failure and Milner's satisfaction reflect their contrasting images of their professional identity.