CURIOS.TY 21: #Trust

CURIOS.TY, August 2026: The 21^st issue of CURIOS.TY, Wits University’s award-winning research magazine, is themed #Trust — the invisible glue binding society, science and technology.

In this issue interrogate shifting paradigms of faith, from AI as ‘confidant’, to predatory child gaming, questionable corporate handshakes, South Africa’s municipalities, and the complex dynamics of vaccine hesitancy and universal healthcare.

Our researchers confront structural vulnerabilities like xenophobia, institutional corruption, and media misogyny. Yet, hope emerges through community-rooted solutions like traditional healers, university-city collaborations, and urban mapping.

From personal relationships to ageing bodies, we question who earns your trust – and why.

Highlights:

1. AI – Advisor, confidant and friend (without benefits) (page 8): Can we trust its advice, and more specifically, the people who build the systems?
2. Little white lies (page 12): Can intimacy survive without some concealment?
3. Who gets your amen? (page 14): Millions put their faith in religious leaders despite some dramatic exposés of untrustworthy conduct.
4. Game on! But at what cost? (page 26): Developers use the same principles as gambling to entrap and to keep children hooked.
5. Everyday corruption (page 32): What happens when corruption becomes the norm?
6. When not to trust the handshake (page 50): How corporations hinder clients’ trust.