Adopting AI-Enabled Technology: Taking the Bad with the Good

From autonomous vehicles to smart home assistants and telemedicine, artificial intelligence (AI) enabled technologies are increasingly available in the market. Consumers are saddled between the benefits and the risks of these new technologies, yet research has seldom accounted for both facilitators and inhibitors of AI-enabled technology adoption. We introduce a theoretical model that includes both facilitators and inhibitors of AI-enabled technologies, which we test using structural equation modeling with a cross sectional survey of U.S. consumers across three AI categories: autonomous vehicles for robotic AI, smart home assistants for virtual AI, and telemedicine for embedded AI. We also include in the model the role of brand trust. We find that perceived uncertainty, loss of control, and privacy risk inhibit intention to use AI-enabled technologies by reducing perceptions of convenience, customization, and efficiency, so facilitators mediate the relationship between inhibitors and intention to use. We also find that brand trust contributes to intention to use by positively affecting facilitators and negatively affecting inhibitors. Finally, we ran the classic Technology Acceptance Model and found that our proposed model is a better fit to predict intention to use AI-enabled technologies

Adoption of AI-enabled technology: taking the bad with the good

From autonomous vehicles to smart home assistants and telemedicine, artificial intelligence enabled (AI-enabled) technologies are increasingly available in the market. Consumers are saddled between the benefits and the risks of these new technologies, yet prior research has not accounted for the coexistence of inhibitory and faciliatory factors and how they affect intentions to use AI-enabled technology. The current research introduces a conceptual model to address these relationships and integrates the role of subjective ambivalence and brand trust. The model was tested using structural equation modeling with a cross sectional survey of U.S. consumers across three distinct categories of AI: autonomous vehicles for robotic AI, smart home assistants for virtual AI, and telemedicine for embedded AI. The findings reveal that the coexistence of the facilitators and inhibitors gives rise to ambivalence, which itself affects the adoption of novel technology and that brand trust also plays a critical role in affecting facilitators and inhibitors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in terms of the diffusion of innovation and the psychological processes that underlie consumer adoption of new technologies often laden in ambivalence

Negative Ethics: Taking the Bad with the Good. An Introduction

Ce numéro thématique envisage à nouveaux frais l’anthropologie de l’éthique à partir de son versant « négatif ». L’anthropologie fait souvent abstraction de l’immoralité dans son étude de l’éthique, privilégiant l’examen du « bien » et des pratiques positives d’expression de soi. Cette omission reflète une tendance plus large de la discipline à considérer la socialité comme intrinsèquement positive ou bienveillante. A contrario, nous réfléchissons ici à quoi ressemblerait la vie morale si nous l’analysions à partir de l’étude des actes répréhensibles, des mauvaises conduites, des infractions sociales et des angoisses que celles-ci suscitent. S’attacher aux aspects négatifs de la vie sociale montre que le jugement éthique comporte une forte dimension positionnelle : le fait qu’une chose paraisse bonne ou mauvaise est souvent une question de perspective. Une approche perspectiviste de la vie morale nous permet de considérer simultanément le bon et le mauvais à travers l’analyse de l’usage situé et réflexif des concepts éthiques par nos interlocuteurs. Contrairement à la position dominante dans la discipline, nous soutenons que l’action sociale négative et immorale ne corrode pas la vie sociale, mais en est plutôt génératrice : par la tentation, en provoquant l’indignation, en galvanisant l’action et en incitant l’innovation en matière de conventions éthiques. Nous identifions cinq modes d’activation de la vie sociale par le négatif : comme fondement de la socialité ; comme point focal de l’action sociale ; comme échec/incapacité à répondre aux attentes ; comme frisson illicite ; et comme expression glaciale des relations. Revenant sur la tendance anthropologique anglophone à conceptualiser le social comme implicitement bon, nous suggérons de se défaire d’une telle normativité au moyen d’une « misanthropologie » stratégique. En abordant les relations sociales par le biais de la méfiance et des inquiétudes morales de nos interlocuteurs à leur égard, nous pouvons réenvisager la vie humaine d’une manière qui oblige ensemble le mal et le bien.This special issue re-envisages the anthropology of ethics from the point of view of “the negative”. Anthropology often overlooks immorality in its study of ethics, privileging “the good” and people’s positive practices of self-cultivation. This elision reflects a broader tendency within the discipline towards viewing sociality as inherently positive or benign. What might moral life look like, we ask, if we begin our analyses with the study of wrongdoing, misconduct, social trespasses, and people’s anxieties about them? Attending to these negative aspects of social life highlights that there is a strong positional dimension to ethical evaluation: whether something appears good or bad is often a matter of perspective. A perspectival approach to moral life allows us to keep the bad and good in view simultaneously through the analysis of our interlocutors’ situated, reflexive use of ethical ideas as conceptual objects. Contrary to dominant disciplinary common sense, we argue that negative, immoral social action and evaluation does not undermine social life, but rather is generative of it: tempting people, provoking outrage, galvanising action, and prompting innovation around ethical conventions. We identify five patterns in how the negative sets social life in motion: as the foundation of sociality; as a focal point for social action; as failure/falling short; as illicit frisson; and as a frosty quality of relations. Returning to the Anglophone anthropological tendency to conceptualise the social as implicitly good, we suggest divesting such normativity through a strategic “misanthropology”. Approaching social relations from the perspective of our interlocutors’ distrust and moral anxieties about them allows us to re-envision human life in ways that take the bad with the good.

May Bad Luck Be Without You: The Effect of CEO Luck on Strategic Risk-taking

We investigate how luck, namely, changes in a firm's performance beyond the CEO's control, affects strategic risk-taking. Fusing upper echelons theory with insights from psychology and behavioral strategy research, we hypothesize that there is a positive association between luck and strategic risk-taking and that this effect is stronger for bad luck than for good luck. We further argue that these effects vary depending on whether CEOs have experienced negative events earlier in their professional careers. Measuring luck as the exogenous component of recent firm performance, we show empirically that CEOs react to bad luck by adopting more conservative risk-taking policies while showing no reactions to good luck. This effect predictably varies with the strength of bad luck signals, and it is stronger for CEOs who have experienced negative events during their professional careers. We contribute to the literature by providing the first evidence on the role of luck in corporate strategic risk-taking

Liquidity Shortages and Monetary Policy

The paper models the interaction between risk taking in the financial sector and central bank policy for the case of pure illiquidity risk. It is shown that, when bad states are highly unlikely, public provision of liquidity may improve the allocation, even though it encourages more risk taking (less liquid investment) by private banks. In general, however, there is an incentive of financial intermediaries to free ride on liquidity in good states, resulting in excessively low liquidity in bad states. In the prevailing mixed-strategy equilibrium, depositors are worse off than if banks would coordinate on more liquid investment. In that case, liquidity injection will make the free riding problem even worse. The results show that even in the case of pure illiquidity risk, there is a serious commitment problem for central banks. We show that unconditional free lending against good collateral, as suggested by the Bagehot Rule, fails to address the moral hazard problem: Even though we consider a model with pure illiquidity risk, it turns out that such a policy will encourage banks to behave naughty, providing insufficient level of liquidity.monetary policy, liquidity risk, financial stability

Taking the Good with the Bad: Recognizing the Negative Externalities Created by Charities and Their Implications for the Charitable Deduction

The tax code allows taxpayers to deduct amounts donated to an extremely broad variety of organizations deemed to create societal benefits — that is, positive externalities. But many organizations that may receive tax-deductible contributions also cause harms. Both the tax code and subsidy theory, one of the most utilized scholarly theories developed to analyze the deduction from an economic and morally neutral perspective, fail to properly account for these negative externalities. In order to do so, one needs to look beyond the economic models utilized by subsidy theorists. For instance, there should be some limit to the types of harms organizations can cause while retaining their subsidy (that is, their ability to receive deductible contributions), something not adequately provided by the tax laws or the Kaldor–Hicks model used by subsidy theorists. As a starting point, this Article suggests the government should not subsidize organizations that impinge on an individual’s ability to live a full and meaningful life as a fair and equal member of society. If this (or some version of this) principle is accepted, taxpayers should not be able to deduct amounts donated to organizations that do so. Additionally, the government should not subsidize the efforts of organizations to promote their views of societal issues upon which there is reasonable disagreement. If one accepts this principle, donors should not be able to deduct amounts given to organizations advancing any particular conception of “the good,” since allowance of the deduction would result in disparate subsidization of certain competing viewpoints over others, often favoring the majority view. If one applies these suggested principles, it seems clear that the current law’s disallowance of deductions made to lobbying organizations and to certain organizations which have race-based exclusion policies is appropriate. However, an application of these same principles would question whether the deduction is appropriate in other situations in which it is currently allowed. For instance, current law allows donors to deduct amounts contributed to certain tax-exempt organizations that engage in limited lobbying; to organizations that are sibling organizations of lobbying groups, which seek to change public opinion through educational efforts; and to groups that have exclusion policies based on criteria other than race. An application of the suggested principles creates questions as to whether this is appropriate. This Article aims to act as a starting point to stimulate further discussion about whether and to what extent donors should be able to deduct amounts donated to charities that not only provide societal benefits but also cause harm

Taking the Good With the Bad: Ambivalent Ties and Health in Later Life

Relationships that are sources of both positive and negative experiences (i.e., ambivalent ties) are understudied, and findings are mixed regarding their influence on health. This dissertation, accordingly, examined whether exposure to ambivalent ties differentially relates to health outcomes depending on how it is operationalized (Study 1), whether the link between ambivalent ties and cognitive functioning is moderated by interpersonal coping (Study 2), and whether the daily coupling of ambivalent ties and health limitations is moderated by affect valuation (Study 3). Community-dwelling older adults in the greater Austin, Texas area (N = 333 at baseline, ages 65-92 years old) completed an in-person interview at baseline, followed by a self-administered questionnaire (returned by mail), and 5-6 days of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys. Findings revealed that the proportion of ambivalent ties in one’s total network was the best operationalization of exposure to ambivalent ties in the current dataset (Study 1); ambivalent ties were related to poor cognitive functioning, a link not readily buffered by coping strategies (Study 2); and the daily coupling of ambivalent ties and health limitations was buffered by affect valuation (Study 3). Implications for models of ambivalent ties and health, as well as practical implications for older adults’ health and well-being, are discussed

Taking the bad with the good : volatility of foreign portfolio investment and financial constraints of small firms

The author examines the impact of the volatility of foreign portfolio investment on the financial constraints of small firms. Using a dataset of over 195,000 firm-year observations across 53 countries, she examines the impact of foreign portfolio investment instability on capital issuance and firm growth across countries and firm characteristics, in particular size. After controlling for the endogeneity of foreign portfolio investment instability, as well as for firm-, industry-, and country-level characteristics such as GDP growth, as well as the levels of foreign portfolio and direct investment, the author finds that the volatility of foreign portfolio investment is only significantly associated with a decreased ability to issue publicly-traded securities for small firms in years when nations are considered less"creditworthy."The volatility of foreign portfolio investment only hinders the growth of small firms significantly in periods when nations are deemed less"creditworthy."These results underscore both the significance of a good financial system that minimizes capital flow volatility, as well as the influence of property rights and country creditworthiness to instill confidence in foreign investors.Investment and Investment Climate,Economic Theory&Research,Capital Flows,Financial Intermediation,Markets and Market Access

Credit Scoring in a Hospital Setting

This is a study of the relationship between consumer credit scoring and the resolution of a patient\u27s account for hospital services. Accounts studied were classified as Good accounts or Bad accounts based upon their final resolution. Bad accounts were those written-off to bad debt with Good accounts being all others. The probability of predicting a patient\u27s account being either Good or Bad was based upon a consumer credit scoring process. The null hypothesis of this study was that the consumer credit scoring process would not provide any indication about the outcome or resolution of the account. Analysis of the credit score and the outcome of the hospital account suggested the consumer credit score would indicate the patient\u27s reliability in taking responsibility for the account. Based on the confidence given to credit scoring in consumer markets and the results of this study, the consumer credit score would have value for the health care industry