Using an original experimental survey, we analyze how people perceive punishments generated by artificial intelligence (AI) compared to the same punishments generated by a human judge. We use two vignettes pertaining to two different albeit relatively common illegal behaviors, namely not picking up one's dog waste on public roads and setting fire in dry areas.

In general, participants perceived AI judgements as having a larger deterrence effect compared to the those rendered by a judge. However, when we analyzed each scenario separately, we found that the differential effect of AI is only significant in the first scenario. We discuss the implications of these findings