Trust and Soft Law for AI

Trust in the
governance of technologies—distinct from trust in the technologies themselves—is a critical factor in the protection of society and the flourishing of innovation. Governance failures—the risk management of asbestos or mismanagement of personal data by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica among others—show how inadequacies of governance can erode trust. This erosion can harm not only the development of useful technologies, but also potentially the entire system of governance that protects the rule of law and forms the basis of modern societies.