A Model of Human Autonomy Interaction:Implications for Human-Autonomy Teaming
Presented by Dr. Mica R. Endsley – SA Technologies, Inc.
July 13, 2017875 N. Randolph Street, Arlington, VA Room 40031:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Abstract: Autonomous systems provide the considerable opportunity to enhance future military operations by potentially reducing unnecessary manning costs, increasing the range of operations, enhancing capabilities, providing new approaches to air power, reducing the time required for critical operations, and providing increased levels of operational reliability, persistence and resilience. Increased levels of autonomy can be brought to bear to enhance operations in both manned and unmanned aircraft, and in operations in space, cyber, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, readiness, and sustainment.
Successful system autonomy will not function fully independently, but will need to effectively partner with human operators. Many challenges for successful human interaction with autonomous systems exist, however, indicating the need for a new approach to the design of autonomous systems that will allow them to serve as effective teammates. An automation conundrum exists in which the more automation is added to a system, and the more reliable and robust that automation is, the less likely that human operators overseeing the automation will be aware of critical information and able to take over manual control when needed. Effective manned-autonomy teaming requires a high level of shared situation awareness and situationally relevant levels of trust which underlie effective oversight, intervention and coordination.
Autonomous systems must be designed to serve as a part of a collaborative team with human operators. Past paradigms that created brittle automation, with limited capabilities and limited consideration of human operators, will be replaced by an explicit focus on synergistic human-autonomy teams. This new paradigm will directly support high levels of shared situation awareness between the human operator and the autonomy, creating situationally relevant informed trust, ease of interaction and control, and the manageable workload levels needed for mission success
A model of human autonomy interaction will be presented based on the past 40 years of research on human-automation interaction. This model shows key factors that will need to be considered to achieve successful interaction with autonomous systems based on shared situation awareness between the human and the system autonomy.
Bio: Dr. Mica Endsley is President of SA Technologies, a cognitive engineering firm, and is the former Chief Scientist for the US Air Force. She has also held the positions of Visiting Associate Professor at MIT in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at Texas Tech University
Dr. Endsley is a Fellow and Past-President of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. She received a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California. Dr. Endsley is a recognized world leader in the design, development and evaluation of systems to support human situation awareness (SA) and decision-making, and the integration of humans and automation. She has authored over 200 scientific articles and is the co-author of Analysis and Measurement of Situation Awareness and Designing for Situation Awareness.
This lecture is presented by invitation only. Please contact Dr. Ken Goretta for details. ghz.thz@us.af.mil.