Studying trust in autonomous products

While a certain level of trust is needed for autonomous cars and smart technologies to reach their full potential, these technologies are not infallible – hence why we're supposed to keep our hands on the wheel of self-driving cars and follow traffic laws, even if they contradict our map app instructions. Recognizing the significance of trust in devices – and the dangers when there is too much of it – Erin MacDonald, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, researches whether products can be designed to encourage more appropriate levels of trust among consumers. The researchers simulated a smart speaker interaction to test how altering peoples' moods might influence the extent to which they trust autonomous products. In a paper published last month in The Journal of Mechanical Design, MacDonald and Ting Liao, her former graduate student, examined how altering peoples' moods influenced their trust in a smart speaker. Their results were so surprising, they conducted the experiment a second time and with more participants – but the results didn't change.