  This paper presents the results of an extensive study investigating the
opinions on Artificial Intelligence (AI) of a sample of 4,006 European citizens
from eight distinct countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland,
Romania, Spain, and Sweden). The aim of the study is to gain a better
understanding of people's views and perceptions within the European context,
which is already marked by important policy actions and regulatory processes.
To survey the perceptions of the citizens of Europe we design and validate a
new questionnaire (PAICE) structured around three dimensions: people's
awareness, attitude, and trust. We observe that while awareness is
characterized by a low level of self-assessed competency, the attitude toward
AI is very positive for more than half of the population. Reflecting upon the
collected results, we highlight implicit contradictions and identify trends
that may interfere with the creation of an ecosystem of trust and the
development of inclusive AI policies. The introduction of rules that ensure
legal and ethical standards, along with the activity of high-level educational
entities, and the promotion of AI literacy are identified as key factors in
supporting a trustworthy AI ecosystem. We make some recommendations for AI
governance focused on the European context and conclude with suggestions for
future work.
