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This thesis explores the perception and trustworthiness of the users towards artificial intelligence (AI) -generated content on social media platforms. The study employs the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Framing Theory as theoretical frameworks to understand the factors influencing user attitudes and behaviours towards AI-generated content. The research explores three main areas: user trust in AI-generated content, the ability to differentiate between AI-generated and human-generated content and the ethical implications of AI-generated content use. The research employed an online survey with 100 participants to collect quantitative data on their experiences and perceptions of AI-generated content. The findings indicate a range of trust levels in AI-generated content, with a general trend towards cautious acceptance. The results also reveal a gap between the participants' perceived and actual abilities to distinguish between AI-generated content, underlining the need for improved media literacy and awareness initiatives. The thematic analysis of the respondent's opinions on the ethical implications of AI-generated content underscored concerns about misinformation, bias, and a perceived lack of human essence. The study connects these findings with the TAM and Framing Theory, suggesting that perceived usefulness and the framing of AI-generated content significantly impact user trust and acceptance. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on AI in media and communications, underlining the need for a more nuanced understanding and responsible AI ecosystem development. It highlights the crucial role of public perception, awareness, and ethical considerations in shaping the future of AI-generated content on social media platforms

The purpose of this thesis is to fill the previous research gap concerning automation in the horticulture industry by discovering the adoption of automation in the U.S. and Canada, exploring the possibilities of introducing autonomous solutions and provide recommendations as to how this could create opportunities for small robotics companies targeting the industry. A case company in the U.S. and Canada was used as an example of a small robotics company for the case study. Two research questions were formulated: RQ1: Which major tasks in the horticulture industry should a small robotics company aim to automate? RQ2: What are the barriers for companies in the horticulture industry to invest in automated solutions? A mixed methods research with a pragmatic, inductive and exploratory approach was employed. The primary source of data was gathered from surveys, due to the geographical diversity of the region studied. The surveys reveal that the average level of automation across all respondents averaged at 47%. Given the strategy of the case company, a small robotics company is argued to aim to automate the following tasks: placing plant liners, sticking cuttings and planting seed, spacing of plants and containers, plant pruning, harvesting and grading production, and pesticide application. The horticulture industry is showing low barriers to invest in automation. The relatively high levels of automation are leading to increased trust in automation and further investments in automation. This is shown in the technology being perceived as useful amongst 75-85% of respondents and perceived as easy to use amongst 94% of respondents. / Syftet med denna avhandling är att fylla det tidigare forskargapet om automatisering inom hortikultur, genom att utforska acceptansen av automatisering i USA och Kanada, utforska möjligheterna att införa autonoma lösningar och ge rekommendationer om hur detta kan skapa möjligheter för små robotföretag som riktar sig mot branschen. En fallstudie på ett robotföretag i USA och Kanada användes som ett exempel på ett litet robotföretag. Två forskningsfrågor formulerades: RQ1: Vilka stora uppgifter inom hortikultur bör ett litet robotföretag sträva efter att automatisera?RQ2: Vilka hinder finns för företag inom hortikultur att investera i automatiserade lösningar? En blandad metodforskning med ett pragmatiskt, induktivt och utforskande tillvägagångssätt användes. Den primära källan till data samlades från undersökningar, på grund av den geografiska mångfalden i regionen som studerades. Undersökningarna visar att den genomsnittliga automatiseringsgraden för alla svarande i genomsnitt uppgick till 47%. Med tanke på bolagets strategi rekommenderas ett litet robotföretag att automatisera följande uppgifter: rada upp plantor, stick och plantera frön, skapa avstånd mellan växter och behållare, beskära och kvalitetsgranska skördar, och applicera bekämpningsmedel. Hortikulturindustrin visar låga hinder för investeringar i automatisering. De relativt höga automatiseringsnivåerna leder till ökat förtroende för automatisering och ytterligare investeringar i automation. Detta framgår av tekniken som uppfattas som användbar bland 75–85% av de svarande och uppfattas som lätt att använda bland 94% av de svarande.

Bakgrund och problemformulering: Skiftet till digitala banktjänster innebär ett annat arbetssätt att bibehålla förtroendet hos sina kunder då servicen blir mindre personlig. Förtroende och service är en viktig del hos kunderna samtidigt som det ställs nya krav gällande bekvämlighet och automatiserade självtjänster. Mot denna bakgrund är möjliga problem som kan uppstå en bristande säkerhet samt riskerna kring integriteten.  Syftet: Studiens syfte är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan kundernas förtroende och bankernas digitala banktjänster. Utöver detta vill forskarna få en förståelse för bankkunders förtroende för sin digitala bank.  Metod: Undersökningen bygger på kvantitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökning som sedan används för att genomföra en korrelationsanalys och regressionsanalys. Teoretisk referensram: Technology Acceptance Model, Social Exchange Theory, Perceived Risk och Digitala Tillitsmodellen. Empiri: Empirin har fyra olika fokusområden: kontrollfrågor, förtroende, digitala banktjänster samt risk och säkerhet. Dessa sammanställs och testas i en korrelationsanalys och regressionsanalys för att undersöka samband och testa hypoteser.  Slutsats: Resultatet visar att det föreligger ett positivt samband mellan digitala banktjänsters användbarhet och förtroende för digitala banktjänster samt att upplevd integritetsrisk har ett negativt samband med förtroendet. Trots att det kan finnas ett samband mellan digitala banktjänsternas användarvänlighet och förtroende finns inte tillräckligt med stöd för att bevisa detta. / Background and problem formulation: The shift to digital banking services means a different way of working to maintain the trust of its customers, this as the service has become less personal. Trust and service are valued highly for the customers, while new demands are being made regarding convenience and automated self-service. Against this background, possible problems that may arise are a lack of security and the risks surrounding integrity. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between customers' trust and the banks' digital banking services. In addition to this, the researchers want to gain an understanding of bank customers' trust in their digital bank. Method: The survey is based on a quantitative method in the form of a questionnaire which is then used to carry out a correlation and regression analysis. Framework: Technology Acceptance Model, Social Exchange Theory, Perceived Risk and Digital Trust Model. Empiricism: The empiricism has four different focus areas: control questions, trust, digital banking services and lastly risk as well as security. These are compiled and tested in a correlation and regression analysis to examine relationships by testing hypotheses. Conclusions: The findings show that there is a positive relationship between the usability of digital banking services and trust in digital banking services, and that perceived integrity risk has a negative relationship with trust. Although there may be a link between the ease of use of digital banking services and trust, there is not enough support to prove this.

Internet voting (i-voting) has been researched since countries started trialing it two decades ago. Although several countries have abandoned their trials, some implemented i-voting in national elections. I-voting research discusses successful implementations of i-voting in countries such as Estonia, Switzerland, and Canada, which has generated many different factors for successful adoption. However, no systematic literature review (SLR) on i-voting adoption factors has been identified. The problem that this thesis addresses is the lack of a comprehensive overview on reasons why an individual decides to adopt an i-voting solution. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is “to identify i-voting adoption factors on the individual level”. This study aims to answer the following research question: “How can TAM be adapted to explain an individual’s intention to adopt i-voting?” A semi systematic literature review of 117 articles is used that contains articles spanning two decades of i-voting research. The scope is narrowed down to adoption factors on the individual level and include the non-technical factors: “Voter experiences and perceptions”, “Trust”, and “Education”, and the technical factors: “User experience”, and “Performance”. The technology acceptance model (TAM) is used to explain how the factors relate to Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usability (PU) within TAM. A suggestion of an extended model is also made that includes other factors which were identified to explain individual adoption. Thus, the conclusion of this thesis is that TAM can in part explain an individual’s intention to adopt i-voting, but that it should be adapted to include the following additional factors: “Trust”, “Demographics”, “Education”, and “Voter experiences and perceptions”. Recommendations for future research on i-voting, limitations, and ethical and societal consequences are also discussed.

This dissertation aims to understand the mechanisms behind the adoption of smart cities technologies (SCT) and how they can promote social equity in local communities in the United States. There is a distinct lack of empirical research addressing the methods designed for the promotion of social equity despite their numerous benefits. The present study will address this omission in the scholarship by providing evidence-based insights on how public administrators can leverage SCT to promote distributional social equity through the Digital Era Governance (DEG) and Adoption Theory frameworks. This study also demonstrates the efficacy of applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to understand better the mechanism leading to the acceptance and adoption of SCT in the United States. Lastly, it provides insightful evidence demonstrating the value of these approaches and their influence on policymakers’ decisions using SCT to address one of society’s most challenging issues, fostering social equity. It utilizes data from the ICMA’s 2016 Smart Cities Survey, the 2015 Sustainability Practices Survey, and the U.S. Census Bureau. The study employs logistic and negative binomial regressions to examine the factors influencing commitment to using SCT, engagement with SCT, and distributional social equity. The findings indicate that factors such as ‘perceived usefulness’ and ‘ease of use’ influence commitment to SCT usage, which impacts SCT engagement, leading to social equity outcomes

To facilitate a better understanding of the social psychological factors that influence adoption of project management practices, this study draws upon the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) from social psychology, and the technology acceptance model (TAM) from information systems research. These models define and relate a number of belief constructs that predict the acceptance of technologies in a variety of settings. In general, the three models each have relatively consistent empirical support, with comparison studies showing mixed support for each of the models being the moderately "better" model. In the current study, the three models are thoroughly integrated using a latent constructs approach and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. Overall, constructs from TRA and TAM, but not TPB, predict the use of specific project estimating, plan development, and plan commitment practices defined in the Capability Maturity Models (CMM/I).

[pt] Realidade Virtual (ou VR, do inglês Virtual Reality) é o termo usado para descrever um ambiente gerado por computador que as pessoas podem, sob os sentidos de imersão e presença, explorar e interagir. Esta tese tem como objetivo investigar como a presença de pessoas em cenários colaborativos como reuniões de trabalho pode ser mediada de forma benéfica pelo uso de tecnologias de Realidade Virtual. Neste sentido, acredita-se que aplicações em VR, se utilizadas como ferramentas para auxiliar reuniões híbridas, proporcionam maior envolvimento e engajamento das pessoas durante a atividade. Esta pesquisa foi parcialmente desenvolvida durante a pandemia de COVID-19 e argumenta sobre a relevância de investigar formas de interação em meio a regras de distanciamento social. Para uma base teórica, os conceitos de realidade e virtualidade foram formalizados e a evolução das tecnologias e aplicações de VR foi delineada. Aqui demonstrou-se como ambientes de imersão tridimensional podem impactar a experiência humana e têm sido adotados por diversas indústrias além do universo dos jogos. Após a revisão da literatura, foram definidas técnicas a fim de responder a uma série de questões de pesquisa: primeiro, um trabalho exploratório sobre movimento e interação em VR, seguido por entrevistas semiestruturadas e um questionário. Os dois últimos se concentraram em investigar as percepções das pessoas sobre as configurações físicas e remotas das reuniões de trabalho. Por fim, o experimento final buscou aplicar um Modelo de Aceitação de Tecnologia para medir a aceitação ou rejeição de VR como ferramenta para reuniões de trabalho híbridas. / [en] Virtual Reality is the term used to describe a computer-generated environment that people can, under the sense of immersion and presence, explore and interact with. This thesis aims to investigate how the presence of people in collaborative scenarios, such as work meetings, can be mediated in a beneficial way by the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. In this sense, we believe that VR, if used as a tool to assist fully remote and hybrid work meetings, provide greater involvement and engagement of people during the activity. Our research was partially developed concurrently with the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we argue about the relevance of investigating forms of interaction amid rules of social distancing. For a theoretical basis, we first formalized the concepts of reality and virtuality and covered the evolution of VR technologies and applications. Here, we demonstrated how three-dimensional immersion environments can impact the human experience and have been adopted by several industries beyond the universe of games. After the literature review, we defined research techniques to address several research questions. We started with an exploratory work on movement and interaction in VR, followed by semi-structured interviews and a web-based survey. The latter two focused on investigating people s perceptions of the physical and remote settings of work meetings. At last, the final experiment sought to apply a modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to measure the acceptance or rejection of VR as a tool for hybrid work meetings.

During the past years, gamification has become an influential trend in technology and the promises are widespread. The definition of gamification is known as the implementation of game elements (leaderboards, badges, points) within a non-game context. The term emerged as a result of business digitalization showing potential in increasing employee engagement and productivity. As a result of its infancy, little is known about the factors that define the use intention of a prospective user. Moreover, the role that different demographic backgrounds might have on the use intention of potential users is largely unknown.  This study has specifically sought to uncover these factors by subjecting the constructs of the Technology Acceptance Model within the context of gamification. The study investigates the factors that define the intention of users to engage in platforms based on gamification. Furthermore, by exploring the link between demographic factors and gamification use intention, this study contributes to filling an important research gap. Where prior research has predominantly focused on examining the effects of age and gender, this study has aimed to propose new findings on the factors of educational background and IT literacy.  This research has employed a quantitative research method based on the collection of survey responses. For data collection, an online survey was conducted within the organizational context of Volvo CE, 93 survey responses have been taken into consideration for the analysis. The data analysis method of choice is based on PLS-SEM, with the analysis performed through the software programmes SmartPLS and SPSS. Through this method, the relevance of the constructs to Gamification Use Intention (GUI) could be investigated, whilst the controlling effect of demographics was also uncovered. The conclusions indicate that the two main defining technological acceptance factors for gamification use intention are perceived enjoyment, and perceived usefulness. Additionally, perceived ease of use has materialized as an indirect indicator of GUI through its positive effect on enjoyment and usefulness. In the case of the demographic factors, gender was found to have no effect, age decreases GUI as individuals are older, individuals with higher IT literacy experience higher GUI, and higher GUI is found for individuals with lower educational backgrounds.

This project was initiated due to the need for new manners of taking care of elderly. The purpose was to determine the perception of eHealth within home care. The goal was to analyze the perception of eHealth in order to find factors which may affect the implementation of eHealth services. To distinguish the perception, surveys with health personnel within home care and the general public as well as and interviews with municipalities were performed. An extension of the Technology Acceptance Model was used in order to locate the perception to seven different categories related to eHealth. The results from the surveys were statistically analysed, and a factor analysis was executed on the surveys, in order to find groups with similar perception on eHealth. The surveys showed that the general perception of the usability and ease of use of eHealth is positive, even though one view was that the society needs to invest more money within the area. The factor analysis resulted in six different groups of perceptions for the personnel and three groups for the general public. The interviews demonstrated that a clear and common definition of eHealth is missing. Despite that, a positive perception of eHealth within the municipalities existed. A conclusion made was that with clear guidelines of how to work eHealth, a wider and faster implementation will be easier to accomplish. / Syftet med detta projekt var att undersöka inställningen till eHälsa inom äldrevården. Projektet initierades på grund av att det fanns ett behov av nya tillvägagångssätt för att ta hand om äldre människor. Målet var att analysera inställningen till eHälsa, och om möjligt, finna faktorer som kan påverka implementeringen av eHälsotjänster. För att lokalisera inställningen gjordes enkätundersökningar med personal inom hemtjänsten samt med allmänheten. Även intervjuer med kommuner utfördes. En påbyggnad av Technology Acceptance Model användes för att lokalisera upp- fattningen kring sju kategorier relaterade till eHälsa. Enkätundersökningarnas resultat analyserades statistiskt, samt så utfördes en faktoranalys för att hitta grupper som hade liknande uppfattning gällande eHälsa. Analyserna visade att den allmänna uppfattningen gällande nyttan med, och användarvänligheten av eHälsa är positiv. Majoriteten anser att samhället behöver investera mer pengar i området. Faktoranalysen resulterade i sex olika grupper av inställningar inom personalen samt tre grupper för allmänheten. Intervjuer med kommuner påvisade att en klar och tydlig definition av eHälsa saknas. Trots det, har de i stort en positiv inställning till eHälsa och dess utveckling. En slutsats är att tydligare riktlinjer rörande arbete med eHälsa skulle kunna möjliggöra en smidigare implementering.