A Multimethod Analysis of US Perspectives towards Trustworthy Autonomous Systems

The Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub is a collaborative platform that aims to guide the development of autonomous systems that are safe, reliable, and ultimately trusted by society. Its mission is to address the challenges surrounding the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems (AS), such as self-driving vehicles and AI-powered decision-making tools. We conducted a multimethod analysis using the theoretical grounding of thematic analysis coupled with an initial computational exploration of the data and cross-referenced to the results of a card sorting exercise to explore emerging topics from a series of interviews conducted at various universities and research institutes in the United States. The participants discussed multifaceted ways in which AS needs to be approached and developed. Some believed that more education on ethics and social sciences is needed in the computer science curriculum to enable those working on future systems to consider the impact of their work on users and make technologies in line with people’s values and practices. In general, the participants were positive towards the development of TAS but highlighted risks around control and regulation in a culture that values deregulation.