Perceived credibility of an AI instructor in online education: The role of social presence and voice features

Technological advancements have made AI instructors, or more broadly machine teachers, a lived reality. However, limited information is available about how students will perceive an AI instructor that provides educational content. Thus, the present study examines the effects of an AI instructor's voice and expertise on the perceived credibility of an AI instructor through an online experiment with a 2 (voice: machinelike vs. humanlike) x 2 (expertise: novice vs. expert) between-subjects design. Findings indicate that students perceive greater credibility of an AI instructor with a humanlike voice than those with a machinelike voice. The study also finds that social presence mediates the relationship between the voice of an AI instructor and the perceived credibility of the AI instructor. Finally, the perceived credibility of an AI instructor positively influences students' intentions to enroll in future AI instructor-based online courses. These findings highlight the importance of developing AI instructors that are perceived as credible.