Trust in engineers’ skills drives use of unmanned ‘flying cars’

The study found that people develop trust in the engineers’ skills when the algorithms enabling the aerial taxis are explained to them.

In some countries, unpiloted “flying cars” that ferry passengers are moving from science fiction into reality. But how open are commuters to using these autonomous passenger drones?

However, the survey showed that only trust in the engineers’ technical abilities – not trust in their ethics or care – influenced people’s positive views of autonomous aerial taxis and willingness to use them. “These observations call for more research to investigate the intricate relationship between trust in AI engineers and how people think and feel about using autonomous passenger drones,” said the researchers.

The study, supported by Singapore’s National Research Foundation under the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise programme, shows the importance of communication strategies that explain how AI works in improving people’s attitudes towards emerging AI technologies and their willingness to use them.

---

Find out more in “The effectiveness of explainable AI on human factors in trust models”, published in Scientific Reports (2025), DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-04189-9.

The article appeared first in NTU's research & innovation magazine Pushing Frontiers (issue #26, May 2026).