How crucial is AI-human teamwork in safety-critical situations? This is what a recent study published in npj Digital Medicine hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated how AI is used in safety-critical settings, specifically hospitals and airplanes. This study has the potential to help scientists, engineers, and the public better understand the importance of AI-human collaboration instead of relying on AI to carry the load.
For the study, the researchers analyzed data obtained from 10 past patient cases involving 450 nursing students and 12 licensed nurses. The goal of the study was to ascertain AI’s role in decision-making during critical situations and how much the individuals relied on AI to make decisions. In the end, the researchers found that the AI’s algorithm determined nurses’ decision-making, meaning when the algorithm was correct, the nurse made the right decision, but when the algorithm had errors, this was followed by the nurse also making errors. Ultimately, the researchers concluded that relying solely on AI in safety-critical settings needs to be re-evaluated, specifically increasing human involvement to balance the AI-human teamwork aspect.
“An AI algorithm can never be perfect,” said Dr. Dane Morey, a research scientist in the Department of Integrated Systems Engineering at Ohio State University and lead author of the study. “So, if you want an AI algorithm that’s ready for safety-critical systems, that means something about the team, about the people and AI together, has to be able to cope with a poor-performing AI algorithm. The point is this is not about making really good safety-critical system technology. It’s the joint human-machine capabilities that matter in a safety-critical system.”
This study comes as AI continues to become embedded in our everyday lives, including hospitals, airplanes, telecommunication, vehicles, just to name a few. Therefore, studies like this can help establish a balance between AI and human expertise without relying on one or the other in safety-critical settings.
What new advancements regarding AI-human teamwork will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: npj Digital Medicine, EurekAlert!
