Learner Perceptions of AI Ethics and Cultural Bias in Intercultural Willingness to Communicate
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/ELIJ.2026.09.25.05Keywords:
artificial intelligence, intercultural willingness to communicate, cultural bias, ethics, English as a foreign language.Abstract
The employment of artificial intelligence (AI) as a communicating partner for language learning has become a reality, but concerns regarding the cultural neutrality of AI have been insufficiently explored, especially in the realm of intercultural communication. In this qualitative study, the attitudes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners towards AI ethics and cultural bias, the relation of these attitudes to intercultural willingness to communicate (IWTC), and the expectations from culturally sensitive and ethically aware AI tools are investigated. Ten purposively selected English majors (second- to fourth-year) at a private university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, took part in semi-structured interviews lasting 25 to 40 minutes and answering 12 questions. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded thematically. Participants challenged the assumption of algorithmic neutrality by citing Western-centric bias, imbalances across languages and cultures, and a lack of emotion and context. In addition, participants linked privacy issues, transparency, and artificial empathy to hesitation, and they did not take trust in AI for granted. While participants felt less nervous about making linguistic mistakes in their interactions with AI, cultural and ethical issues were linked to higher levels of hesitation in intercultural communication. Furthermore, participants reported shiftingfrom uncontrolled interaction with AI to more careful monitoring of the process based on conditional trust. These findings show that further research is needed on the role of IWTC in AI-mediated communication environments and the significance of cultural trust, transparency, and legitimacy in technology-mediated intercultural communication. This research has also implications for the design of culturally sensitive AI systems and AI literacy in education.
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