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Credibility and Computing Technology. Belkıs çevİk. INTRODUCTION. For most of computing’s brief history, people have held computers in high regard .
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Credibility andComputing Technology Belkıs çevİk
INTRODUCTION • For most of computing’s brief history, peoplehave held computers in high regard. • In the consumer realm, computer-based information and services have been marketed as better,more reliable, and more credible sources of information than humans. • The public has generally been led to believe that if a computer said it or produced it, it was believable.
Believability • Credibility can be defined as believability. • Trustworthiness is defined as well-intentioned,truthful, and unbiased. The trustworthiness dimensionof credibility captures the perceived goodness or morality of the source. • Expertise is defined as knowledgeable, experienced, and competent. Theexpertise dimension of credibility captures the perceivedknowledge and skill of the source.
Computer credibilitydoes not matter when: • Users are not aware of the computer • Users don’t recognize the possibility of computer bias or incompetence • Users have no investment in the interaction • The computer acts only as a transmittal device
When credibility matters in human-computer interactions: • When computers act as knowledge repositories : • Computers can tailor information in realtime for users to, say, help them match interests,personalities, or goals. Users may question the credibility of the information provided. • When computers instruct or tutor users: • The advice-giving computer is obvious sometimes. • When computers report measurements: • Many engineers felt digital technology was less credible than analog technology,often preferring to keep their analog devicesrather than adopt their newer digital counterparts.
When credibility matters in human-computer interactions: • When computers report on work performed: • In such cases, the credibility of the computer is at issue if the work itreports does not match what actually happened. • When computers report on their own state. • A computer reporting on its ownstate raises issues about its competence to conveyaccurate information about itself and is likely toinfluence user perceptions of credibility.
When credibility matters in human-computer interactions: • When computers run simulations : • Simulationsare based on rules provided byhumans—rules that may be flawed or biased. Evenif the bias is unintentional, when users perceive thecomputer simulation lacks veridicality, or authenticity,the computer application loses credibility. • When computers help render virtual environments : • Virtualenvironments don’t always need to match thephysical world; they simply need to model what they propose to model.
Four Types of Credibility • Presumed credibility : • Describeshow much the perceiver believes someone or something because of general assumptions in the perceiver’s mind. • One line of related researchinvestigates the presumed credibility people attachto computers, perceiving them as being “magical”; having an “aura of objectivity”; having a“scientific mystique”; having “superior wisdom”; and being “faultless”. • Despitethe lack of empirical evidence,it seems clear that many cultures assumecomputers are highly credible, providing expertise without introducing bias.
Four Types of Credibility • Reputed credibility : • Describes how much the perceiver believes someone or something because of what third parties have reported. • Reputed credibility for computing technology extends beyond labeling effects. • Surface credibility: • Describeshow much a perceiver believes someone orsomething based on simple inspection.
Four Types of Credibility • Experienced credibility : • Refersto how much a person believes someoneor something based on first-hand experience. • Computing technologies can also lose credibility over time. • Experienced credibility may be the most complexof the four types of computer credibility. Because ithinges on first-hand experience with the computerproduct, such credibility includes a chronologicalcomponent that leads to a dynamic of computer credibility.
Once users perceive a computer product lacks credibility, they are likely to stop using it, leaving it no opportunity to regain its credibility.
Credibility Gained, Lost, Regained • Computers gain credibility when they provide information users find accurateor correct [4, 8]; conversely, computers lose credibilitywhen they provide information users find erroneous. • Small errors by computers have disproportionatelylarge effects on perceptions of credibility. • Once computers lose credibility, they can regain it • In one of two ways: by providing good informationover a period of time or by continuing to makethe identical error, allowing users to learn to anticipateand compensate for the persistent error.
User Variables andCredibility Evaluations • User expertise : • Expertise influences how people evaluate the credibility of computing systems. • Computer users familiar with particular content evaluates the computer product more stringentlyand is likely to perceive the product as less credible,especially in the face of computer mistakes. • Similarly, those not familiar with the subjectmatter are more likely to view the product as more credible.
User Variables andCredibility Evaluations • User understanding : • One study showed that knowing more about the computer actuallyreduced users’ perception of credibility. • Other researchers have shown the opposite. • User need for information : • It is about user variables deals with people’s need for information,and how it seems to affect their willingness toaccept information from computing technology. • People with a greater need are generally more likelyto accept information from the technology.
User Variables andCredibility Evaluations • Evaluation errors : • Peopleare more likely to perceivea computer as credible when they lack expertisein the subject matter or face an unfamiliar problem or task. • But blind faithcould lead to mindlessly accepting information orservices from a computer. • This so-called “gullibilityerror” means that even though a computer product isnot credible, users perceive it to be credible. • In contrast,experts face another problem: They may rejectinformation or services from a computer that mighthave been useful to them—the “incredulity error”.
Looking Ahead • Although it may be an overstatement to say thatcomputers are facing a credibility crisis, the credibilityof computing products will be a growing concern—within and outside our professional circles.