[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":16},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f-n31UZDcRKqlTeO7spxsD8rOqIn2lp37j0EH40FzFeM":3},{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"html":7,"publishedAt":8,"updatedAt":9,"author":10,"tags":11,"featureImage":13,"readingTime":14,"canonical":15},"the-more-you-know-the-less-you-trust-ai-and-thats-the-problem","The More You Know, the Less You Trust AI, And That’s the Problem","A new study shows the more you know about AI the less you trust it—what that really means for hype, adoption, and the coming AI bubble.","\u003Cp>Recently, a paper titled \u003Ca href=\"https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/t9u8g_v1?ref=blogs.fluencysecurity.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">\u003Cem>Lower Artificial Intelligence Literacy Predicts Greater AI Receptivity\u003C/em>\u003C/a> caught wide attention. Both the\u003Ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-adoption-study-7219d0a1?ref=blogs.fluencysecurity.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\"> \u003Cem>Wall Street Journal\u003C/em>\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"https://futurism.com/more-people-learn-ai-trust?ref=blogs.fluencysecurity.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">\u003Cem>Futurism\u003C/em>\u003C/a> covered it, distilling the research into a catchy headline: \u003Cstrong>the more you know about AI, the less you trust it.\u003C/strong>\u003C/p>\n\u003C!--kg-card-begin: html-->\n\u003Cdiv id=\"elevenlabs-audionative-widget\" data-height=\"90\" data-width=\"100%\" data-frameborder=\"no\" data-scrolling=\"no\" data-publicuserid=\"ae3cda78c4a99172f99dbfb050207098d88a71401457ade2c9f5329e0b9185ed\" data-playerurl=\"https://elevenlabs.io/player/index.html\" >\u003C/div>\u003Cscript src=\"https://elevenlabs.io/player/audioNativeHelper.js\" type=\"text/javascript\">\u003C/script>\n\u003C!--kg-card-end: html-->\n\u003Cp>But here’s the thing — the paper isn’t just a quick survey or a narrow study. At 58 pages, it’s a substantial piece of academic work, and what makes it stand out is scale. The authors used \u003Cstrong>seven different studies\u003C/strong> across multiple populations and methods. This makes it a comprehensive statistical evaluation of the relationship between AI knowledge and trust in AI.\u003C/p>\u003Cp>And their conclusion is clear: people with \u003Cstrong>lower AI literacy\u003C/strong> are more likely to perceive AI as \u003Cstrong>\u003Cem>magical\u003C/em>\u003C/strong>, which sparks awe and increases receptivity. By contrast, those who understand AI better lose the sense of wonder, which often translates into skepticism.\u003C/p>\u003Cp>When \u003Ca href=\"https://www.ajawamnet.com/?ref=blogs.fluencysecurity.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Wayne Mitzen\u003C/a> takes an interest in something, he learns it in depth. Whether it’s music, hardware design, or AI, Wayne approaches each field with the same intensity. In one of his \u003Ca href=\"https://www.ajawamnet.com/ajawamnet/aimugs.html?ref=blogs.fluencysecurity.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">blogs\u003C/a>, he makes it plain that he has no awe about large language models (LLMs) or “intelligent” systems. Quite the opposite — he sees them for what they are: engines of prediction mathematics dressed up as something more. I do not see Wayne as a skeptic. Wayne is a realist. And this paper is really about the Waynes in this world.\u003C/p>\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Here is the problem\u003C/strong> companies face with this research: selling an AI future requires \u003Cstrong>\u003Cem>not\u003C/em>\u003C/strong> explaining AI. To maintain the magic and hype, there needs to be fewer Waynes in the world. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Sales and marketing always thrive on misrepresentation and false promises.\u003C/p>\u003Cp>When I was at McAfee, product names were notoriously dull. McAfee’s IntruShield was renamed IPS. Salespeople joked that McAfee would rename sushi as “dead fish on rice.” If McAfee marketing were to launch an AI Antivirus, they might just call it \u003Cem>Most Likely Protection.\u003C/em>\u003C/p>\u003Cp>This paper suggests that in order for companies to sell AI, they need to keep consumers ignorant. And that points to an \u003Cstrong>“AI bubble” ahead\u003C/strong> — where companies, consumers, and investors are buying into a fantasy that will never materialize.\u003C/p>\u003Cp>Now, should companies invest in and incorporate AI? As Wayne says, it’s all “math tricks.” But it’s still wonderful, scalable mathematics. As AI seemingly writes responses to our questions, we perceive a cognitive answer where there is only a mathematical one. The most likely answer is often the one we need. Whether it’s answering customer service calls or \u003Ca href=\"https://fluencysecurity.com/?ref=blogs.fluencysecurity.com#how-it-works\" rel=\"noreferrer\">reviewing alerts at one in the morning\u003C/a>, AI workflows can often respond faster and with fewer errors than an entry-level employee. What AI does better than people will be its own blog. In short, don’t belittle AI just because it’s not \u003Cem>really\u003C/em> intelligence. What it is remains impressive.\u003C/p>\u003Cp>So what of this paper? It’s one of the first signs of AI growing up. This reckoning had to happen. As we adopt AI, we as users need to understand what it really is in order to take advantage of it. That means being realistic about what LLMs are actually doing, and what they are not.\u003C/p>\u003Cdiv class=\"kg-card kg-signup-card kg-width-wide \" data-lexical-signup-form=\"\" style=\"background-color: #F0F0F0; display: none;\">\n            \n            \u003Cdiv class=\"kg-signup-card-content\">\n                \n                \u003Cdiv class=\"kg-signup-card-text \">\n                    \u003Ch2 class=\"kg-signup-card-heading\" style=\"color: #000000;\">\u003Cspan style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Sign up for Fluency Security\u003C/span>\u003C/h2>\n                    \u003Cp class=\"kg-signup-card-subheading\" style=\"color: #000000;\">\u003Cspan style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">News, research, and insights from Fluency — the cybersecurity platform redefining real-time detection and AI-driven analysis.\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n                    \n        \u003Cform class=\"kg-signup-card-form\" data-members-form=\"signup\">\n            \n            \u003Cdiv class=\"kg-signup-card-fields\">\n                \u003Cinput class=\"kg-signup-card-input\" id=\"email\" data-members-email=\"\" type=\"email\" required=\"true\" placeholder=\"Your email\">\n                \u003Cbutton class=\"kg-signup-card-button kg-style-accent\" style=\"color: #FFFFFF;\" type=\"submit\">\n                    \u003Cspan class=\"kg-signup-card-button-default\">Subscribe\u003C/span>\n                    \u003Cspan class=\"kg-signup-card-button-loading\">\u003Csvg xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\" height=\"24\" width=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\">\n        \u003Cg stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" fill=\"currentColor\" stroke=\"none\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" class=\"nc-icon-wrapper\">\n            \u003Cg class=\"nc-loop-dots-4-24-icon-o\">\n                \u003Ccircle cx=\"4\" cy=\"12\" r=\"3\">\u003C/circle>\n                \u003Ccircle cx=\"12\" cy=\"12\" r=\"3\">\u003C/circle>\n                \u003Ccircle cx=\"20\" cy=\"12\" r=\"3\">\u003C/circle>\n            \u003C/g>\n            \u003Cstyle data-cap=\"butt\">\n                .nc-loop-dots-4-24-icon-o{--animation-duration:0.8s}\n                .nc-loop-dots-4-24-icon-o *{opacity:.4;transform:scale(.75);animation:nc-loop-dots-4-anim var(--animation-duration) infinite}\n                .nc-loop-dots-4-24-icon-o :nth-child(1){transform-origin:4px 12px;animation-delay:-.3s;animation-delay:calc(var(--animation-duration)/-2.666)}\n                .nc-loop-dots-4-24-icon-o :nth-child(2){transform-origin:12px 12px;animation-delay:-.15s;animation-delay:calc(var(--animation-duration)/-5.333)}\n                .nc-loop-dots-4-24-icon-o :nth-child(3){transform-origin:20px 12px}\n                @keyframes nc-loop-dots-4-anim{0%,100%{opacity:.4;transform:scale(.75)}50%{opacity:1;transform:scale(1)}}\n            \u003C/style>\n        \u003C/g>\n    \u003C/svg>\u003C/span>\n                \u003C/button>\n            \u003C/div>\n            \u003Cdiv class=\"kg-signup-card-success\" style=\"color: #000000;\">\n                Email sent! 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