Support for AI Assisted Environmental Inspection and Alert Validation in Bangladesh

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help environmental regulators identify cases that merit investigation, but support for using AI in inspection does not establish support for acting on its alerts without verification. This cross-sectional study separates support for AI as a complement to human inspection from endorsement of regulatory validation before serious enforcement action. It analyses 385 adult responses to a common questionnaire on AI, environment and climate justice in Bangladesh. We report full item distributions, joint endorsement and within-person comparisons, then examine whether perceived pattern utility and self-reported awareness of AI limitations are associated with the two focal ratings. Inspection support was endorsed by 301 respondents (78.2%) and alert validation by 237 (61.6%). Both were endorsed by 182 (47.3%). Support for complementary inspection exceeded endorsement of validation by 16.6 percentage points (paired 95% CI 9.9 to 23.1; Holm-adjusted p < 0.001). Expectations that transparent monitoring could improve confidence were also widely endorsed (304, 79.0%). None of the four focal adjusted regression coefficients met the multiplicity-adjusted threshold. The results distinguish support for investigative assistance from views about the procedure that should precede consequential action. They support assessing the two judgements separately in public engagement and evaluating alert validation as a distinct stage of deployment. The study measures stated judgements, not regulatory practice, system performance or the causal effects of awareness. Its mixed respondent sample does not support national prevalence estimates.