Trusting AI Agents: What Makes People Feel Safe, Informed, and in Control?

About this study

What the research is about

This study explores how people understand and judge trust in agentic AI — AI systems that can plan, act and carry out tasks on a person's behalf. We are interested in how people think about trust, safety, control and accountability when using these systems.

Full information about the research and what taking part involves is provided in the Participant Information Sheet.

This study is for people who have used an AI system that has access to personal information about them and can use that information to carry out tasks or take actions on their behalf.

Personal information might come from information the AI remembers about you, or from connected services such as your email, calendar, documents or other accounts.

Please read the Participant Information Sheet before deciding whether to take part. It explains what the research involves, how your information will be handled, your rights as a participant, and who to contact if you have questions.

If you have read the Participant Information Sheet and are happy to take part, please confirm each statement below. Consent is recorded electronically — there is no form to download, sign or email.

• I have read and understood the purpose of the study and have had the chance to ask questions about the study and these have been answered to my satisfaction.
• I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason and without consequence.
• I understand that my research data may be published as a report and that my responses will be anonymised.
• I consent to this interview being audio recorded and understand that recordings will be deleted after transcription, with transcripts stored anonymously on password-protected institutional storage and used for research purposes only.
• I understand that my data may be processed for the purpose of the Research Excellence Framework, conditional upon the University complying with its obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.

All five statements must be confirmed before you can continue to booking.

Once you have confirmed that the study is relevant to your experience, read the Participant Information Sheet, and given your consent, choose a convenient interview time below.

The interview is a 60-minute online conversation held on Google Meet.

If the calendar above does not load, you can open the booking page in a new tab.

Questions?

Contact the research team

If you have questions about the study, are unsure whether your experience is relevant, or have difficulty accessing any of the study materials, please contact the research team.

Stemres Research

research@stemres.net

omoh.akinlade@stemres.net

Principal Investigator

Opeyemi Dele-Ajayi

School of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering and Environment

Northumbria University

o.dele-ajayi@northumbria.ac.uk

Data protection

Records and Information Officer, Northumbria University

Duncan James

dp.officer@northumbria.ac.uk

This research has been reviewed and approved by Stemres and Northumbria University.