Report on the basis for social acceptability of tracking applications in times of pandemic released
As part of the OBVIA COVID-19 Committee’s work on the effects of artificial intelligence systems and digital tools deployed to fight the spread of COVID-19 on societies, Yannick Dufresne, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Université Laval, David Dumouchel, post-doctoral researcher, and William Poirier, master’s student, have produced a research report on the “Foundations of the social acceptability of tracking applications in times of pandemics: Technophobia? Health Fear? or Democratic Ideology?”
This report examines the social acceptability of artificial intelligence solutions, and of tracking applications in particular, using data from two surveys that were collected specifically for this project. It highlights several findings of the solution’s acceptability of these applications, related to attitudes toward technology and AI in the population, health urgency, where the developers come from, and how they are deployed.
This research report is part of the work of the International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of AI and Digital Technology (OBVIA) on the effects of artificial intelligence systems and digital tools deployed to combat the spread of COVID-19 on societies, supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ).
