REGULATING THE FUTURE, OR THE FUTURE OF REGULATION? DETERMINENTS OF PUBLIC TRUST IN EU AI GOVERNANCE

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is the first supranational body to institute an AI governance regime to manage the development and deployment of AI systems within its borders, known as the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA). Addressing gaps in the fields of political trust, AI governance, and EU research, this exploratory study provides holistic insight on how AI governance and EU political trust intersect for EU residents. Utilizing 3 complementary datasets – CRONOS, European Social Survey (ESS), and an original survey – this thesis explores if and how generalized trust in the EU is operationalized into trust in EU AI governance. Testing three indicators (level of education, political ideology, and employment sector) through the lens of political and epistemological trust, the results reveal statistically significant relationships between these indicators as predictors of EU AI governance trust, laying the groundwork for future research into the intersection of trust, technology, and democracy.