Welfare models and AI regulation: preferences of university students in the UK and Poland

The growing uptake of artificial intelligence technologies in societies highlights the importance of understanding the regulatory preferences of different societal segments toward their regulation. We argue that a wider sociopolitical context shapes it and explore this argument using Esping-Andersen’s welfare state regime typology and a survey of university students from two distinct welfare regimes. Our findings reveal important differences and the effect of age on preference for the role of the state. Students in the UK favor decentralized, individualistic regulations, aligning with the liberal welfare model, while students in Poland support a balanced approach, consistent with a post-socialist welfare model.