Susannah Paletz, a research professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, is leading a multi-institutional research study for the Army aimed at understanding how human intelligence analysts and artificial intelligence can work together.
According to a press release by UMD, the research project extends beyond learning about how AI can increase efficiency. By conducting foundational research on team cognition, Paletz and her team intend to uncover what it takes to create a system where human intelligence analysts can benefit and place appropriately-calibrated trust in AI technology.
In terms of intelligence work, AI could run through hundreds of thousands of source documents and extract key findings, which could be transformed into actionable intelligence. The cutting-edge technology can also facilitate the exchange of information and analysis among team members. However, like humans, it is still susceptible to inaccuracies and biases.
Paletz’s team consists of researchers from the Fraunhofer USA Center for Experimental Software Engineering, the UMD College of Information Studies and the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University.
The team is looking to recruit undergraduate students to help out on the project. Applications are open for U.S. citizens. Female and minority students are encouraged to join the team.
The multi-institutional research project was made possible by a three-year, $616.7K grant from the Army Research Office, which is part of the Army Research Laboratory within the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command.
Paletz is also the principal investigator of a $1.5M Department of Defense-funded research dedicated to understanding how emotion impacts re-sharing and viral reach of posts on Facebook and YouTube.
For more than 20 years, Paletz has been conducting research on a wide range of topics including applied social psychology, communication, language, culture and ethnicity, group processes, interpersonal processes, organizational behavior and social cognition. She is the co-author of studies including “The Breakdown of Coordinated Decision Making in Distributed Systems” and “The dynamics of micro-conflicts and uncertainty in successful and unsuccessful design teams.”