EU AI Governance in the Public Eye: Perceptions, Priorities, and Tensions

Abstract

This panel brings together empirical studies researching public opinion on the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the EU. Studying public opinion about EU AI policy is of critical importance at a time when AI governance, even though just emerging, is high on the political agenda. While AI creates potential major benefits across many domains, it also creates manifold risks, both for the individual, through for example biased and inaccurate AI outputs, and for society, through for example AI-fueled proliferation of misinformation. Consequently, AI governance is also fraught with tensions and trade-offs, for example between strictly regulating the risks of AI or providing companies with freedom from regulation to facilitate technological innovation and experimentation. Increasingly, EU AI governance is also becoming tied up with questions of technological sovereignty, adding another dimension to citizens’ attitudes toward AI governance, specifically in the form of support for EU AI-protectionism versus openness to non-EU AI products. While these different policy- and regulatory options are being debated, it is still unclear how EU citizens prioritize these tensions and trade-offs. By studying public opinion about AI governance, we can uncover which policies on AI that find are perceived as legitimate and likely to find support in the EU citizenry, and which may face opposition and resistance. Additionally, we may uncover social divides among EU citizens regarding policy- and regulatory preferences that may contribute to the politicization of AI in EU politics. In short, public opinion on AI thus has important implications for EU policymakers. The contributions of the panel address the following questions: How do EU citizens perceive AI risks? What are their priorities regarding EU AI governance? What tensions manifest in their perceptions and priorities? Using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the contributions of the panel shed light on the extent to which different policies and regulatory approaches are supported and perceived as legitimate by citizens. They examine the antecedents of support for different ways of governing AI and point to key trade-offs that exist in EU public opinion on AI governance. It presents novel theoretical angles and empirical insights and sets an agenda for the future development of public opinion research on AI governance in the EU.

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