Güner Gültekin D., Sınıksaran İ. E.
55th EBES Conference, Budapest, Macaristan, 16 - 18 Nisan 2026, ss.319-333, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
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Yayın Türü:
Bildiri / Tam Metin Bildiri
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Basıldığı Şehir:
Budapest
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Basıldığı Ülke:
Macaristan
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Sayfa Sayıları:
ss.319-333
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İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi Adresli:
Evet
Özet
This study examines how health-related decisions, which involve significant uncertaintyand risk, lead individuals to favour information sources they consider epistemologicallycredible. Within the behavioural decision-making literature, this tendency is explained throughthe concept of epistemic authority. The rise of AI-based systems in healthcare promptsquestions about whether epistemic authority is attributed exclusively to human experts or alsoto AI systems. The objective is to compare the influenceof human and AI sources on perceivedepistemic authority and the willingness to follow their recommendations in healthcaresettings. The study employed a two-factor between-subjects experimental design, focusing onthe type of authority (human vs. artificial intelligence) and the presence or absence ofauthority symbols. The experiment was conducted in two phases. In the first phase,information on anxiety disorder symptoms was collected from participants, and it was statedthat this information would be subject to expert evaluation. In the second phase, conductedafter a thirteen-day break, participants were presented with an anxiety disorder diagnosis andtreatment recommendations. The content of the information presented remained the sameacross all conditions; only the source of the information (human expert or artificialintelligence) and the presentation format (video or audio recording) were varied. The sampleconsisted of 213 university students. Perceived epistemic authority and intention to complywith recommendations were measured; data were analysed using nonparametric tests andmediation analysis.
The results indicate that human resources are regarded as possessing greater epistemicauthority than artificial intelligence. The presence of authority symbols enhanced perceptionsof epistemic authority for both resource types. Conversely, the willingness to followrecommendations did not differ significantly across authority types. This willingness wasprimarily influenced by the perceived level of epistemic authority. Mediation analysis revealsthat epistemic authority partially mediates the relationship between authority type and theintention to comply. The results indicate that the influence of AI-based systems in healthcarerelies not just on the information they deliver but also on the trust placed in their epistemicauthority. The findings highlight that perceptual and cognitive factors are crucial in theadoption of AI for healthcare decisions.