Project Description
The swift advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked both enthusiasm and concerns, with governments embracing the new technology for administrative efficiency, but also regulating it to protect the rights of citizens. To navigate this dynamic environment, policymakers require timely and dependable data on the attitudes of the population towards AI. Despite calls for research (e.g., Montag et al. 2024), no reliable short scale has been established to measure these attitudes systematically within large survey panels, which are an important foundation for evidence-based policy design.
Our research group has developed a concise and reliable six-item scale to assess AI attitudes, and tested it in German and US internet panels (Novotny et al. 2024). In doing so, we have obtained favorable results for both classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT) analyses. The scale can be used to examine variations in attitudes across demographic groups, and to study both the antecedents and consequences of such attitudes, e.g., for the acceptance of AI technologies.An adaptation of the scale will be fielded in a nationally representative Dutch survey panel in Q4 2025. Our team is happy to support further international applications.
Contact Persons
Prof. Dr. Frauke Kreuter
Chair of Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities (SODA) & Deputy Head of Department
Publications
- Novotny, M., Weber, W., Kern, C., Kreuter, F.. Measuring public opinion towards artificial intelligence: development and validation of a general AI attitude short scale. AI & Soc (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02478-5
- Novotny, M., Weber, W., Kern, C.. GAIA-6: A general AI attitude short scale for large survey panels. 80th Annual AAPOR Conference (2025).