Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in everyday life, raising questions about how its use may reinforce or mitigate social inequalities. This study examines perceptions of affordability, self-assessed knowledge, practical accessibility, and usefulness of AI tools in Croatia, focusing on how gender, age, and frequency of AI use shape emerging digital divides. Drawing on survey data from a nationally representative sample, descriptive analyses, group comparisons, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple linear regressions were conducted to identify patterned inequalities across Lutz’s three sequential levels of digital inequality: access, skills, and outcomes. Factor analysis indicates that the inequality items do not form a single coherent scale, suggesting that AI-related inequality is multidimensional and that affordability, knowledge, practical accessibility, and usefulness represent distinct but related facets. Group comparisons and regression models reveal that frequency of AI use is the most consistent predictor across all facets: frequent users report higher affordability, greater perceived knowledge, lower reliance on assistance, and stronger perceptions of usefulness, while non-users cluster at the opposite end of each dimension. Age further differentiates respondents in perceived knowledge and practical accessibility, with younger cohorts feeling more competent and less dependent on help, whereas gender only marginally shapes confidence and loses significance once age and use frequency are controlled. Overall, the findings support and extend sequential models of digital inequality by demonstrating that, in the Croatian context, GenAI inequality is driven less by static sociodemographic attributes and more by practice-based divides between those who engage with AI tools and those who remain non-users.

Patients’ rights are a fundamental component of ethical and legally compliant healthcare, with professionals bearing primary responsibility for their implementation. This study aimed to examine healthcare professionals’ knowledge of legally defined patients’ rights and related professional obligations within the Croatian hospital system, to explore differences across sociodemographic and professional groups, and to assess whether distinct domains of legal knowledge can be identified. A 2024 cross-sectional study in two Zagreb public hospitals used an anonymous online questionnaire with seven legally based clinical claims on patient rights and professional duties. Data were analysed descriptively and using nonparametric tests to examine differences across sociodemographic and professional groups, and Spearman’s rank correlation to assess associations between claims. Based on 197 complete and analysed responses, high levels of agreement were observed for well-established and routinely applied patient rights, such as the right to restrict visits, voluntary discharge with a written statement, and disclosure of professional identity. Substantial uncertainty and misconceptions were identified for claims involving conditional legal norms and procedural obligations, including research involving minors, documentation of intent to leave, and the obligation to provide a second medical opinion. Selective group differences were observed by gender, age, professional group, and professional experience. Correlation analysis primarily revealed weak associations among claims, with suggestive clustering around patient autonomy. In conclusion, healthcare professionals’ legal knowledge of patients’ rights is fragmented and domain-specific rather than unified, underscoring the need for targeted, context-based legal education to support consistent protection of patients’ rights in clinical practice.

Editorial

This study investigates how attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI), levels of technological competence and patterns of trust shape AI adoption, perceived labour-market risks and support for regulatory measures among working-age adults in Croatia. The analysis draws on data from a nationally representative CAWI survey conducted within the project Artificial Intelligence and Social Change. A subsample of respondents aged 18-64 (N = 418) was used for this study. The questionnaire included measures of AI usage, perceptions of labour-market uncertainty, technological and scientific trust, AI self-efficacy and attitudes toward regulation. Composite scales were constructed using reliability analysis and principal component analysis. AI adoption was modelled with binary logistic regression. Results show that younger age, stronger trust in AI and higher AI self-efficacy significantly increase the likelihood of regular AI use. Labour-market risk perceptions were examined using a general linear model, revealing that pro-technology attitudes (reverse-coded transhumanism) and higher trust in science are associated with greater perceived job insecurity related to AI, while demographic variables exert minimal influence. Support for AI regulation was analysed using logistic regression with a binary outcome capturing consistent pro-regulatory preferences. AI optimism, perceived labour-market risks and perceived technological risks all significantly increase support for regulatory measures, whereas demographic factors play only a marginal role. Overall, the findings indicate that AI adoption, labour-market concerns and demand for regulation are driven primarily by attitudinal and perceptual mechanisms rather than socio-demographic characteristics. The study highlights the coexistence of AI optimism and regulatory caution, pointing to a societal demand for governance frameworks that balance technological innovation with social safeguards.

This article analyses how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be domesticated within everyday life by revisiting and extending classic theories of technological integration. Drawing on Silverstone’s domestication model, the analysis outlines how technologies acquire meaning through appropriation, objectification, incorporation, and conversion within the moral economy of the household. To address the limits of a framework originally developed for television, the article integrates insights from the Actor-Network Theory, and the Technology Acceptance Model. Empirical results show that 54,5% of Croatian citizens use AI tools, while 45,5% do not. Usage varies significantly by age and region, with 27,8% using AI occasionally, 26,7% frequently, and 23,6% not at all. Non-use is primarily explained by insufficient knowledge, lack of interest, and distrust. Familiarity and perceived competence strongly shape attitudes and incorporation into daily routines, indicating that domestication often breaks down at the appropriation stage. Overall, the findings highlight AI’s ambivalent role as both intermediary and mediator in everyday practices.

This article examines public attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in science, starting from the concept of epistemological rights of citizens and Merton’s institutional ethos of science. Various predictors were examined to explain citizens’ positive attitudes towards the impact of AI on objectivity, quality, efficiency, judgment, and ethics of scientific practice. Regression analysis showed that significant predictors are sex, age, frequency of AI use, trust in AI tools, and perceptions of similarity between the human brain and computers. Also, the strongest single predictor of affirmative attitudes is the belief that AI can make ethically correct decisions, which indicates the presence of the phenomenon of dataism in a part of the population. Despite general concerns about the possible misuse of technology, citizens express moderate trust in the ability of scientific institutions to use AI tools reliably and ethically, implicitly confirming the credibility of science in the digital age.

Artificial intelligence (AI) represents a key enabling force of transhumanism in contemporary visions of Homo sapiens technologicus, aimed at overcoming biological limitations of the human body. Young people, socialized in technologically saturated environments shaped by rapid technoscientific change, constitute a sociologically relevant group for examining transformations in perceptions of the body and human agency. This study empirically examines attitudes of citizens of the Republic of Croatia toward willingness to engage in AI-supported body augmentation across functional, health-related, physical-performance, and existential dimensions, with particular emphasis on generational differences. The findings show that most respondents express resistance to technological body enhancement, especially regarding cognitive control, contactless everyday functionalities, and cryonics. At the same time, a considerable proportion of respondents across all dimensions express ambivalent or undecided attitudes. Statistically significant generational differences in views on neural device control, health-preservation technologies, and physical augmentation indicate that younger generations are more inclined to perceive the body as open to technological intervention, while older generations adhere more strongly to notions of biological authenticity. The pronounced indecision among younger respondents suggests that transhumanist ideas, once confined to science fiction imaginaries, are increasingly entering everyday social consciousness without achieving full normative stabilization. By empirically identifying indecision as a distinctive generational feature, this study contributes to a sociological and interdisciplinary understanding of transhumanism as an ideological movement intertwined with AI and points to early stages of sociocultural adaptation toward transhumanist worldviews.

Important questions concerning citizen trust in artificial intelligence (AI) systems have been raised by their rapid development and widespread application throughout various social and economic activities. Trust in AI has become a crucial element determining the level of its societal acceptance along with a series of interconnected factors. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing trust in AI, the social implications of such trust and distrust, as well as the perception of and readiness to accept AI within Croatian society. Conducted on a sample of 500 respondents in the Republic of Croatia, the research sought to examine the frequency of AI tool usage, the level of trust in AI, and the citizens’ readiness to accept it in everyday and professional contexts. The results indicate an overall moderate level of trust in AI, characterized by a prevailing cautious optimism. Most respondents recognize the benefits of AI in various life situations, while also expressing pronounced caution and selective acceptance of certain forms of its application. Simultaneously, they voice concerns regarding ethical dilemmas. The analysis shows that trust in AI is significantly correlated with the frequency of AI tool usage and the level of digital literacy, suggesting that personal experience and understanding of the technology positively influence the perception of its reliability. Within the Croatian context, a key remaining challenge relates to raising the level of public awareness and building a transparent system for AI application based on ethical standards and social responsibility.

In this article, we take metaphysical standpoint and examine what would be the consequences for deliberation if the thesis of determnism is true and if libertarianism is true. We take that deliberation is an active rather than passive process. We try to show that if determinism is true, than there is no, in fact, anything like deliberation. Moreover, if determinism is true, subjects cannot not to enter their chain of thoughts, if it is determined by initial states and laws of nature. Under determinism, any event, so any chain of thoughts as well, is fully determined, as well as there is the only one determined outcome of such a chain. If libertarianism is true, then one who thinks that determinism is true can deliberate in fact, although he is wrong about the metaphysical structure of his world. We explore some other details as well.

The maritime orientation of the Republic of Croatia significantly shapes its viability and overall existence. Beyond its cultural, historical, and natural significance, the Adriatic Sea also holds strategic importance for Croatia, serving as one of the country’s vital economic resources. The evolving geopolitical landscape is driving substantial change, particularly in the energy supply through existing corridors, and may prompt European Union member states to expand maritime energy transport across the Adriatic Sea. Recognizing the high level of potential risk for marine pollution, due to increased maritime traffic in the Adriatic region, Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy have established a joint platform for prevention and response to potential incidents. In addition to outlining the current intervention management model for sudden marine pollution in the Republic of Croatia, this article presents the role and importance of the Croatian Coast Guard as the key authority for maritime security and a central organization in preventing, mitigating, preparing for, and responding to sudden marine pollution in Croatia’s Exclusive Economic Zone. To assess its current response capabilities and future development and modernization needs, support was sought from the ChatGPT artificial intelligence model. By addressing a set of targeted questions about potential directions for the technological and organizational modernization of the Coast Guard, the artificial intelligence system proposed meaningful solutions in an exceptionally short period of time. Findings indicate that the widely accessible large language model used in this study provides useful suggestions for Coast Guard development and for supporting the strategic planning process as a whole, with the potential to significantly reduce the workload and time required by planning teams and decision-makers.