Informed consent is a core cornerstone of ethics in human subject research. Through the informed consent process, participants learn about the study procedure, benefits, risks, and more to make an informed decision. However, recent studies showed that current practices might lead to uninformed decisions and expose participants to unknown risks, especially in online studies. Without the researcher's presence and guidance, online participants must read a lengthy form on their own with no answers to their questions. In this paper, we examined the role of an AI-powered chatbot in improving informed consent online. By comparing the chatbot with form-based interaction, we found the chatbot improved consent form reading, promoted participants' feelings of agency, and closed the power gap between the participant and the researcher. Our exploratory analysis further revealed the altered power dynamic might eventually benefit study response quality. We discussed design implications for creating AI-powered chatbots to offer effective informed consent in broader settings.

翻译：知情同意是人体研究伦理的核心基石。通过知情同意过程，参与者了解研究程序、益处、风险等信息，从而做出知情决策。然而，近期研究表明，当前实践可能导致参与者做出不知情决策，并使其暴露于未知风险中，尤其是在线研究场景。由于缺乏研究人员的在场指导，在线参与者需自行阅读冗长的同意书，且无法就相关问题获得解答。本文探讨了AI驱动聊天机器人在改善在线知情同意中的作用。通过将聊天机器人与传统表单交互模式进行比较，我们发现聊天机器人能够提升同意书的阅读效果，增强参与者的自主能动性感知，并缩小参与者与研究人员之间的权力差距。探索性分析进一步表明，这种权力动态的改变可能最终有利于提升研究响应质量。我们讨论了在更广泛场景下设计AI驱动聊天机器人以提供有效知情同意的实践启示。