Artificial intelligence (AI) is already helping to decide who gets a job interview, a loan or parole. However, none of these efforts answer the deeper question: do people accept the authority these systems wield? An accurate tool can still fail if the public never grants it legitimacy. Courts, legislatures and central banks function because many citizens accept how they exercise power, even when outcomes are contested. Once trust is lost, rebuilding it costs more than establishing it correctly from the start.