Layering Trust in Intimate Digital Health Technologies: Learning from Challenging Experiences

Objective
This project will complement our landmark, large-scale qualitative study of the first algorithmic contraceptive on the market – Natural Cycles – by examining the experiences of individuals who have previously used the service as a form of contraception but no longer subscribe to it. Our layered approach to trust also encompasses psychological, contextual and interpersonal factors that question and enliven current trust models in AI and algorithmic systems. Through the project, we expect to learn about what happens when trust in digital intimate health technologies breaks down and to co-design user experience mechanisms that respond to what an intimate digital health technology could do to re-establish trust when it has been challenged or lost.

Background
Algorithmic systems and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are poised to disrupt how we deliver and experience healthcare, providing new solutions to personal and public health issues. Trust has been identified as one key foundation for the success of digital health technologies. Mechanisms that promote trust are critical areas for research and innovation. Health interventions are often designed for use – and behaviour change – at an individual level. However, health choices, health behaviours, and critical trust in healthcare service providers are interpersonal and socially constructed. This calls for research on how trust is developed, experienced, and maintained between users and an algorithmic health service – but also what happens when something goes wrong with the technology or between the people using it as a part of an intimate relationship.

Crossdisciplinary collaboration
The researchers in the team represent the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University, and the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH.

Watch the recorded presentation at the Digitalize in Stockholm 2023 event: