This is a past event.

The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences will host Dr. Paul Ward at the next Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors forum.

The presentation, “Beyond Academia: From Adaptivity to Augmented Decision Making and Back Again”, will be from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Monday March 20 via Zoom.

Abstract:

In this presentation, I will provide an overview of my research conducted on both sides of the research
isle—as a university academic and as a scientist supporting government sponsors. This overview will
span a range of topics from expertise and adaptive skill to technology-enabled decision superiority to
human-centered AI assurance. Specifically, I will summarize a handful of research projects examining
the training principles required to develop expert levels of adaptive skill, the impact of providing humans
with more AI-enabled courses of action than they could generate without technological support,
considerations for supporting human-machine teams, and end with a discussion of what it means to assure
human-centered AI. A common theme throughout this research is that context matters, irrespective of
whether we are concerned with developing expertise or human-centered systems, improving system
performance, or empowering humans to achieve their goals. As part of this talk, I will provide a brief
overview of MITRE, the capabilities we offer, and a description of my journey from University Professor
to Chief Scientist. I will end by posing some questions about the pressing future challenges where
transdisciplinary teams, including Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Scientists, could be leveraged to
produce more robust outcomes for a safer, more secure, and more equitable world.