AI driver or assistant? The impact of gendered interfaces on disempowerment dynamics in fully autonomous vehicles

Fully autonomous vehicles (AVs), which operate without human input, pose unique challenges, particularly in how they disempower users and affect acceptance. Relying on Social Role Theory and the Theory of Automated Social Presence, we conducted four experimental studies to examine how interface characteristics influence disempowerment dynamics. We explored user preferences for gendered interfaces and the impact of the interface's role (driver vs. assistant). We also assessed gender dynamics (men vs. women) and how perceived anthropomorphism impacts disempowerment perceptions. Our findings indicate that while the interface's gender does not significantly influence disempowerment, the interface's role does, which highlights the importance of the AI role in interface design. In these dynamics, anthropomorphism emerges as a crucial factor countering feelings of disempowerment, with women feeling more disempowered than men, who tend to anthropomorphize AVs more. We investigated two interface innovations that could potentially address disempowerment: customizing the interface by providing choices and integrating a gender-neutral voice in the interface. Our results indicate that while providing choices does not impact disempowerment dynamics, integrating gender neutral voice reduces anthropomorphism, thereby increasing disempowerment effects. This reveals the necessity of developing neutral anthropomorphic voices to effectively balance inclusivity and disempowerment effects.