A master thesis from Aalborg University
Trust in AI: Designing a Practical Toolkit for Public Sector Service Development
[Trust in AI]
Author(s)
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-05-25
Pages
137 pages
Abstract
We are witnessing an steady rise in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) within public services. While AI promises greater efficiency and enhanced decision-making, its opaque logic and potential for bias raise concerns about transparency, accountability, and public acceptance. This thesis investigates how public sector service creators in Copenhagen Municipality’s Department for Citizen Service Development (CSD) might design AI-enabled services that foster trust and align with the needs of end users. Although existing research discusses the importance of trust in socio-technical systems, we observe a gap in practical, design-oriented tools that address trust concerns in real- world service development. To respond to this gap, the research explored trust as a dynamic concept shaped by cognitive, social, and institutional factors. A systemic design approach was applied to develop the Trust Toolkit intended to help public sector teams reflect on, evaluate, and integrate trust considerations throughout the development process of AI-enabled services. The toolkit was developed in collaboration with Copenhagen Municipality’s Department for Citizen Service Development and shaped through co-creation and testing. While the findings suggest that practical design support for trust is both necessary and feasible, it also highlights that a toolkit is not a conclusive solution and should be critically evaluated in future work. Overall, this project contributes a practical artefact and design perspective to ongoing discussions about trust, AI, and public service innovation, while also calling for continued interrogation of how trust is conceptualised, operationalised, and maintained in public sector innovation.
Keywords
Documents
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