Beyond Abstract Compliance: Operationalising trust in AI as a moral relationship

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Amugongo, Lameck Mbangula, Asino, Tutaleni, Bidwell, Nicola J
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Amugongo, Lameck Mbangula
Asino, Tutaleni
Bidwell, Nicola J
author_facet Amugongo, Lameck Mbangula
Asino, Tutaleni
Bidwell, Nicola J
contents Dominant approaches, e.g. the EU's "Trustworthy AI framework", treat trust as a property that can be designed for, evaluated, and governed according to normative and technical criteria. They do not address how trust is subjectively cultivated and experienced, culturally embedded, and inherently relational. This paper proposes some expanded principles for trust in AI that can be incorporated into common development methods and frame trust as a dynamic, temporal relationship, which involves transparency and mutual respect. We draw on relational ethics and, in particular, African communitarian philosophies, to foreground the nuances of inclusive, participatory processes and long-term relationships with communities. Involving communities throughout the AI lifecycle can foster meaningful relationships with AI design and development teams that incrementally build trust and promote more equitable and context-sensitive AI systems. We illustrate how trust-enabling principles based on African relational ethics can be operationalised, using two use-cases for AI: healthcare and education.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_22769
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Beyond Abstract Compliance: Operationalising trust in AI as a moral relationship
Amugongo, Lameck Mbangula
Asino, Tutaleni
Bidwell, Nicola J
Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
Dominant approaches, e.g. the EU's "Trustworthy AI framework", treat trust as a property that can be designed for, evaluated, and governed according to normative and technical criteria. They do not address how trust is subjectively cultivated and experienced, culturally embedded, and inherently relational. This paper proposes some expanded principles for trust in AI that can be incorporated into common development methods and frame trust as a dynamic, temporal relationship, which involves transparency and mutual respect. We draw on relational ethics and, in particular, African communitarian philosophies, to foreground the nuances of inclusive, participatory processes and long-term relationships with communities. Involving communities throughout the AI lifecycle can foster meaningful relationships with AI design and development teams that incrementally build trust and promote more equitable and context-sensitive AI systems. We illustrate how trust-enabling principles based on African relational ethics can be operationalised, using two use-cases for AI: healthcare and education.
title Beyond Abstract Compliance: Operationalising trust in AI as a moral relationship
topic Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22769