Who guards the guards with AI-driven robots? The ethicalness and cognitive neutralization of police violence following AI-robot advice

Abstract

We investigate whether the perceived ethicalness of police actions changes when police follow an AI-robot's advice.We assess whether perceived ethicalness of police violence is higher when police follow robot advice to arrest a passer-by, compared to no robot advice to arrest the passer-by.Using neutralization theory, we test how blame-shifting occurs.When police violently arrest an innocent passer-by, the violence is neutralized when the decision was made following the AI-robot.Perceived ethicalness of police violence is higher when the passer-by is a terrorist, and police violence against a passer-by is neutralized through 'denial of victim' and 'denial of injury'.