Participation in the international scientific conference ELU-S 2026

At the international scientific conference ELU-S 2026, held from September 1 to 3, 2026, at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, research findings on patterns of artificial intelligence tool use in the Republic of Croatia were presented.

As part of the conference programme, a presentation entitled “Reliable Algorithms? Trust and Perceived Utility of AI Legal Advice in Croatia” was delivered on September 2. The presentation was jointly prepared and delivered by Assistant Professor Josip Ježovita, PhD, and Lovro Knežević, MA in Sociology, from the University Department of Sociology at the Catholic University of Croatia, together with Assistant Professor Erik Brezovec, PhD, from the Faculty of Croatian Studies at the University of Zagreb. The research emerged from a scientific project of the Catholic University of Croatia entitled “Construction and Validation of the Metric Properties of a Survey Questionnaire on the Acceptance and Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools.”

The presentation offered a sociological perspective on the processes of accepting and using artificial intelligence tools when seeking legal advice among citizens in Croatia. Theoretically grounded in analytical sociology and the DBO model (Desires, Beliefs, Opportunities), the research goes beyond traditional models of technology acceptance (such as UTAUT), focusing instead on a relational perspective, situational context, and the social mechanisms that mediate between the micro-level of individual action and macro-level social outcomes. Particular emphasis was placed on how trust is constructed through interactions between users and technology, as well as on how individuals assess the purpose and usefulness of automated forms of advice.