New Book Chapter: The Public Legitimacy of Artificial Intelligence Governance

My book chapter with Christopher Starke, “The public legitimacy of artificial intelligence governance,” has been published in the Handbook on the Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence, edited by Markus Furendal and Magnus Lundgren (Edward Elgar).

The chapter examines how citizens perceive the legitimacy of artificial intelligence governance. It synthesizes comparative, survey-based research on public attitudes toward AI, AI regulation, and governance responsibilities across countries and use cases.

The central argument is that public legitimacy in AI governance cannot be reduced to support for regulation. It depends on how people evaluate the actors, procedures, and consequences of governance: who should make decisions about AI, whether governance processes are transparent, fair, and accountable, whether regulatory frameworks perform effectively, and whether the benefits and burdens of AI are distributed in ways that citizens regard as acceptable.

The review shows that publics remain ambivalent. While there is broad concern about the need to govern AI, legitimacy perceptions vary by knowledge, values, institutional trust, cultural context, and direct experience with AI systems. Experts, affected groups, and the broader public may also diverge in their assessments of what legitimate AI governance requires.

The chapter concludes by mapping several research frontiers: Global South perspectives, layered trust across governance actors, the politicisation of AI regulation, and emerging challenges posed by agentic AI systems and synthetic relationships.