Supporting Informed Consent in Human-Machine Collaboration: The Role of Conflict Type,Time Pressure,and Display Design

Abstract

This study examined factors affecting the effectiveness of human-machine coordination under a management-by-consent approach where the automation cannot act without explicit operator consent. The context for this study was a proposed aviation system for digital air-ground communication, data link, which may allow system goals to be automatically translated and transferred (“gated”) to other automated cockpit systems. Gating, conflict type, time pressure, and display design were manipulated within a set of simulated flight scenarios which required airline pilots to detect the presence of potential conflicts inherent in the clearance or its implementation. Conflict detection, and thus the operator's ability to provide informed consent, was influenced primarily by conflict type, time pressure, and gating. It was particularly poor for conflicts arising from the implementation methods chosen by automated systems, especially when these systems did more than expected. These results suggest that automated systems need to play a more active role in coordination by providing operators with feedback on their interpretation of commands and their strategies for executing operator instructions.

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