Trustworthy AI and Robotics and the Implications for the AEC Industry: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Potentials

Trust is essential for AI and robotics adoption: The paper emphasizes that trust is not optional but "an inevitable requirement for user acceptance" of AI and robotic systems, meaning organizations and workers won't embrace these technologies without confidence in their reliability and safety.

AI's opacity creates a trust barrier: The study identifies that AI systems' "opaque work mechanism"—meaning users often cannot understand how AI makes decisions—is a significant obstacle to building trust, particularly important for the construction industry where safety and accountability are critical.

Context matters for trustworthy AI: The research stresses that trust in AI and robotics is context-specific and requires "interdisciplinary studies," suggesting that one-size-fits-all approaches to trustworthy AI won't work; construction industry needs differ from healthcare or finance, for example.

Multiple trust dimensions must be addressed together: Rather than focusing on a single factor, the paper identifies "common trust dimensions" across literature, indicating that trustworthy AI requires attention to multiple interconnected aspects—such as transparency, reliability, safety, and human-technology interaction design.

Robots as workplace companions raise unique trust challenges: The prospect of "intelligent robots as workers' companions" introduces novel trust considerations beyond traditional AI systems, requiring specific research on how humans and robots can work safely and effectively together in construction environments.