The Inner Loop of Collective Human-Machine Intelligence

Top Cogn Sci. 2023 Feb 20. doi: 10.1111/tops.12642. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the desire to ensure that such machines work well with humans, it is essential for AI systems to actively model their human teammates, a capability referred to as Machine Theory of Mind (MToM). In this paper, we introduce the inner loop of human-machine teaming expressed as communication with MToM capability. We present three different approaches to MToM: (1) constructing models of human inference with well-validated psychological theories and empirical measurements; (2) modeling human as a copy of the AI; and (3) incorporating well-documented domain knowledge about human behavior into the above two approaches. We offer a formal language for machine communication and MToM, where each term has a clear mechanistic interpretation. We exemplify the overarching formalism and the specific approaches in two concrete example scenarios. Related work that demonstrates these approaches is highlighted along the way. The formalism, examples, and empirical support provide a holistic picture of the inner loop of human-machine teaming as a foundational building block of collective human-machine intelligence.

Keywords: Artificial social intelligence; Cognitive science; Human computer interaction; Human-machine teaming.