Factors influencing the acceptance of ai chatbots Among Hcmc’s undergraduate students: New approach of three-stage acceptance and the moderating role of need for interaction with service employees

Abstract

AI Chatbots have emerged as a remarkable tool, supporting in various domains such as mathematics, physics, and particularly education where they exhibit capabilities in complex concepts, and summarizing academic papers. The study aimed to explore the factors influencing the acceptance of AI Chatbots among university students at Ho Chi Minh City. For this purpose, we developed a model based on the Artificially Intelligent Device Use Acceptance (AIDUA) model. In constructing the model, we selected three stages of appraisal with seven predictors, namely "Performance Expectancy", "Effort Expectancy", "Social Influence", "Perceived Humanness", "Personal Innovativeness", "Hedonic Motivation", and "Emotion" and the Need for Interaction with Service Employees as moderating variable. These antecedents were utilized to develop a comprehensive model that could predict both the Willingness to accept AI Chatbots and Objection to accept AI Chatbots among undergraduate students. The authors employed the partial least squares method of structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), and the data collection was conducted through an online Google form, resulting in 273 responses from students at HCMC’s universities. We proceeded to data analysis with 260 respondents that have known or used AI Chatbots. After refining the model, there are no observed variables removed, rendering the model reliable and valid. The results confirmed eight out of fourteen hypotheses and found the moderating effect of Need for Interaction with Service Employees on the correlation between Performance Expectancy and Emotion. Based on the findings, we offer the suggestions to UEH lecturers and AI Chatbots developers to enhance the acceptance and usage of AI Chatbots among UEH university students and, on a larger scale, university students. AI Chatbots hold great potential for transforming educational practices, and understanding the factors affecting their acceptance can contribute to maximizing their benefits in the realm of education. Therefore, future investigations should continue to delve into the practical applications of AI Chatbots in educational contexts to optimize their impact on student learning experiences.