Dr. Du receives Air Force AFOSR grant on Human-AI Trust (Aug 2022)

ICIC’s research titled “Human-Machine Sensory Sharing for Swift Trust in Autonomy” is awarded by Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). This research aims to test if human-machine sensory sharing establishes swift trust in autonomy in urgent situations. Human-machine sensory sharing in this research refers to converting machine sensor data into human-perceivable sensations. It includes simulating sensor data that can be considered novel and alien to humans, such as aerodynamic, thermal, and pressure changes as haptic, visual and auditorial feedback. Swift trust occurs in temporary teams to accomplish specific tasks, often under certain time constraints. It fits well in cases where autonomy is deployed in an urgent or temporary manner, and when cumulative experience is infeasible. This research will examine human-machine sensory sharing as an enabler of swift trust forming. Without loss of generality, it will focus on autonomous drone navigation tasks.