Untangling Trust, Transparency, and Uncertainty in AI Literature and Policy

A tangled graph with directed arrows connecting several points. Each point has a corresponding label such as "trust", "explainability", and "confidence". Several points such as "transparency" have arrows looping back on themselves. Some arrows are thicker, corresponding to multiple definitions with that relationship.
AI policy contains a complicated web of circular definitions for trust, transparency, and uncertainty.} An arrow from $A$ to $B$ means $A$ is used in $B$'s definition. The width of lines corresponds to count across policy documents (ranging from one to four). Notably, ``transparency'' and ``explainability'' are both used to define themselves, each other, and terms such as ``trustworthiness'' and ``ethical''. Text color indicates terms related to trust, uncertainty, and transparency; black text indicates related terms.
Abstract
Trust, transparency, and uncertainty-awareness are widely cited as prerequisites for responsible and accountable machine learning (ML), yet their meanings and relationships remain inconsistent across research and policy. We present the first systematic review to examine how these concepts are defined and operationalized together across ML research, human–computer interaction, applied domains, AI policy, and technical standards. Analyzing 118 research papers, eight surveys of AI policy documents, and multiple national and international standards, we synthesize discussions on each concept and their relationships. We find that trust, transparency, and uncertainty are rarely defined explicitly in literature, limiting the transfer of meaning and findings between studies. In policy and standards, definitions are frequently circular or conflicting, creating ambiguous compliance expectations. Untangling the relationships between each concept, we argue that trust, transparency, and uncertainty are co-produced in ML, and show how this framing can improve conceptual clarity. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations to improve how we conceptualize, study, and implement ML systems in regard to each concept.
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Khoury Vis Lab — Northeastern University
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