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Tony Bruce Kyereme
0868003
AIST-3004H-B
26-Sep-2025
Workshop Activity 3
Reflection on AI and Fear of the unknown
The following paper offers a reflection on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and the fear of the
unknown, with a focus on generative AI. The topic is of interest to me because I experienced it playing
out firsthand. During a job interview, I carefully answered the interviewer’s question regarding
whether AI could take over the human race. The scenario revealed to me that his question was asked
based on the past experience with automation that displaced workers. A team of researchers at the
University of Turin, Torino, Italy, has shown that when generative AI acts in unpredictable ways, it
makes people uneasy because it breaks the rules we expect machines to follow. This underscores
people’s fear of the invention. The authors noted that for people without a technical background,
such behavior was interpreted not as an error, but as a sign of agency, where “the model’s perceived
agency is seen as an act of independence that may go against human intentions” (Rapp et al. 8).
Research on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into service delivery shows that fear manifests
in two distinct ways: existential threats, which refer to “potential hazards that highly advanced AI
systems pose should they surpass human intelligence and control capabilities,” and identity threats,
which indicate “perceptions of psychological and sociocultural harms of AI to human identities” (Xu
et al. 4). The paper makes this clearer, noting that “when interacting with AI devices like chatbots and
robots, customers might perceive them as superior competitors capable of invading privacy, initiating
conflicts, destroying the planet, or ending human existence” (Xu et al. 2). For me this is an important
reminder that the uncertainty surrounding AI is not only about its technical limits, but about how
people project their deepest worries onto the unknown. It connects directly to my interview
experience, because it shows that even casual questions about AI replacing humans echo larger fears
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of losing control, identity, and security in a rapidly changing world. Understanding these psychological
drivers can help us approach AI development and implementation with greater awareness of the
human element involved.
Works Cited
Rapp, Amon, et al. “How Do People React to ChatGPT’s Unpredictable Behavior? Anthropomorphism,
Uncanniness, and Fear of AI: A Qualitative Study on Individuals’ Perceptions and
Understandings of LLMs’ Nonsensical Hallucinations.” International Journal of Human–
Computer Studies, vol. 198, 2025, p. 103471.
Xu, Yingwei (Wayne), et al. “When Disclosing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology Integration into
Service Delivery Backfires: Roles of Fear of AI, Identity Threat and Existential Threat.”
International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 122, 2024, p. 103829.