Trust, Control and Autonomy: A Dialectic Relationship - Trust Theory: A Socio-Cognitive and Computational Model - page 185

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Trust, Control and Autonomy:
A Dialectic Relationship

In this chapter we are going to analyze the relationships between trust, control and autonomy:
in particular, we are interested in showing how trust and control are strictly interwined ,how
their relationships are dynamic and influence the autonomy of the involved agents. We will
also analyze the concept of 'adjustability' of both autonomy and delegation, and how it is
dependent, elicited and guided from the previous notions of control and trust and from their
interactions.

7.1 Trust and Control: A Complex Relationship
The relationship between trust and control is quite relevant both for the very notion of trust
and for modelling and implementing trust-control relationships among autonomous systems;
but it is not trivial at all.
On the one hand, it is true that where/when there is monitoring and control there is no trust
(or at least there is less trust than without control), and vice versa: when/where there is a
deliberate absence of control, there is trust (or at least there is more trust than in the case in
which it has been necessary to insert control). However, this refers to a restricted notion of
trust: i.e., what we call 'trust in Y ', which is just a part, a component of the global trust needed
because of relying on the action of another agent. We claim that control is antagonistic of this
strict form of trust (internal trust, see Chapter 2); but also that it can complete and complement
strict trust (in Y ) for arriving at a global trust. In other words, putting control and guarantees
is an important step towards trust-building; it produces a sufficient trust, when trust in Y 's
autonomous willingness and competence would not be enough. We also argue that control
requires new forms of trust : trust in the control itself or in the controller, trust in Y as for being
monitored and controlled; trust in possible authorities (or third parties; Section 7.1.5); and
so on.
Finally, we show that paradoxically control might not be antagonistic of strict trust in Y ,but
it could even create trust, increase it by making Y more willing or more effective.