Trust and control: A dialectic link

The relationship between trust and control is quite relevant both for the v ery notion of trust and for modelling and implementing trust-control relati ons with autonomous systems, but it is not trivial at all. On the one side, it is true that where/when there is control there is no trust, and vice ve rsa. However, this refers to a restricted notion of trust : i.e., "trust in y," which is just a part, a component of the global trust needed for relyi ng on the action of another agent. It is claimed that control is antagonist ic of this strict form of trust; but also that it completes and complements it for arriving to a global trust. In other words, putting control and gua rantees is trust-building; it produces a sufficient trust, when trust in y' s autonomous willingness and competence would not be enough. It is also arg ued 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; tru st in possible authorities, etc. Finally, it is shown that, paradoxically, control could not be antagonistic of strict trust in y, but it can even cre ate and increase it by making y more willing or more effective. In conclusi on, depending on the circumstances, control makes y more reliable or less r eliable; control can either decrease or increase trust. Two kinds of contro l are also analyzed, characterized by two different functions : "pushing or influencing control" aimed at preventing violations or mistakes, versus "s afety, correction, or adjustment control" aimed at preventing failure or da mages after a violation or a mistake. A good theory of trust cannot be comp lete without a theory of control.