Understanding Human-AI Trust in Education

As AI chatbots become integrated in education, students are turning to these systems for guidance, feedback, and information. However, the anthropomorphic characteristics of these chatbots create ambiguity over whether students develop trust in them in ways similar to trusting a human peer or instructor (human-like trust, often linked to interpersonal trust models) or in ways similar to trusting a conventional technology (system-like trust, often linked to technology trust models). This ambiguity presents theoretical challenges, as interpersonal trust models may inappropriately ascribe human intentionality and morality to AI, while technology trust models were developed for non-social systems, leaving their applicability to conversational, human-like agents unclear. To address this gap, we examine how these two forms of trust, human-like and system-like, comparatively influence students' perceptions of an AI chatbot, specifically perceived enjoyment, trusting intention, behavioral intention to use, and perceived usefulness. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, we found that both forms of trust significantly influenced student perceptions, though with varied effects. Human-like trust was the stronger predictor of trusting intention, whereas system-like trust more strongly influenced behavioral intention and perceived usefulness; both had similar effects on perceived enjoyment. The results suggest that interactions with AI chatbots give rise to a distinct form of trust, human-AI trust, that differs from human-human and human-technology models, highlighting the need for new theoretical frameworks in this domain. In addition, the study offers practical insights for fostering appropriately calibrated trust, which is critical for the effective adoption and pedagogical impact of AI in education.