Trust engineering and urban mediation: An Info-Communicational Analysis of Human-AI interaction in Smart city public services

Abstract

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into smart city public services is redefining the institution-citizen relationship. This article examines the determinants of user trust in a public service chatbot within the Moroccan context, articulating contributions from Information and Communication Sciences, the Technology Acceptance Model, and algorithmic trust theories. Based on a questionnaire survey of 300 users of the CHAT-ONCF chatbot and a PLS-SEM approach, we test five hypotheses on the relationships between perceived usefulness, algorithmic transparency, cognitive trust, and engagement intention. Results reveal that algorithmic transparency is a significantly stronger predictor of trust than perceived usefulness, inverting the classical TAM hierarchy. Trust partially mediates the effect of transparency on engagement. These findings advocate for a responsible communicational design of urban AI and contribute to a contextualized theory of public AI acceptability in the Global South.

Key words: Algorithmic trust, chatbot, digital mediation, Human-AI interaction, Smart City.

Received Date: April 21, 2026

Accepted Date: May 12, 2026

Published Date: June 01, 2026

Available Online at: https://www.ijsrisjournal.com/index.php/ojsfiles/article/view/698