The Disruptive Effects of Autonomy: Ethics, Trust, and Organizational Decision-making
Principal Investigator: Michael C. Horowitz, University of Pennsylvania
Co-Investigators: Allan Dafoe, Yale University; Julia Macdonald, University of Denver; and Jacquelyn Schneider, U.S. Naval War College
Years of Award: 2017-2020
Supporting Service Agency: Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Project Description
Rapid advances in autonomous systems raise fascinating behavioral questions. In particular, for the Department of Defense, understanding how factors like trust, risk, and organizational incentives could shape the development, use and effectiveness of autonomous systems will be critical. This project seeks to understand the human, organizational, and political factors that will affect the willingness of individuals and bureaucracies to adopt autonomous systems, and the potential consequences of these attitudes. This project will bring together theories on adoption capacity and military technologies, theories on the societal effects of emerging technologies, and theories on what drives public attitudes concerning emerging technologies, to build a broader understanding of the disruptive behavioral effects of autonomy.
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