The Influence of Viability, Independence, and Self-Governance on Trust and Public Acceptance of Uncrewed Air Vehicle Operations

Trust is expected to be a critical construct that drives successful use of advanced air mobility technologies. As yet, though, the role of trust in human-autonomy interaction is underexplored. Kaber (2018) argues that autonomy requires the highest level of three independent dimensions – viability, independence, and self-governance. The present study examined whether trust varies across the three dimensions of autonomy under varying levels of risk. Participants in the high-risk group read a series of vignettes on a drone that delivers medical supplies over a city where the current study was conducted. Participants in the low-risk group read a series of vignettes on a drone that delivers fast food over a fictitious city. Each vignette described a drone that is either autonomous (i.e., possesses all dimensions) or automated (i.e., one of the dimensions is compromised). Results imply that the three dimensions of autonomy do not equally influence human-technology trust and behavior.