Woman-led Research Team to Shape the Future of AI in U.S. Army Intelligence Work

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Dr. Susannah B.F. Paletz, research professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, through a $616,700 three-year grant from the Army Research Office (ARO), is leading a multi-institutional, majority-female research team examining technology-enhanced intelligence analysis. ARO is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory. The researchers are examining how human intelligence analysts and artificial intelligence (AI) can collaboratively become an effective team.

AI has the potential to support intelligence analysts in reviewing potentially hundreds of thousands of source documents, pulling out key findings, and assembling them into actionable intelligence. AI can also aid in the exchange of information and analysis among intelligence team members – improving the efficiency and accuracy of their work. But, AI is not perfect. Like humans, it also can have inaccuracies and biases. The project involves foundational research on team cognition to understand how AI and humans can work together, not just how AI can increase efficiency, which is key to creating a system where human intelligence analysts can benefit from and place appropriately-calibrated trust in AI technology.

The female-led, majority-female team will soon recruit additional project support from undergraduate students. They are interested in students who are U.S. citizens, and will particularly encourage female and minority students to apply.

The research team also includes:

• Dr. Adam Porter, Co-PI, Professor at the UMD Department of Computer Science and Executive and Scientific Director of the Fraunhofer USA Center for Experimental Software Engineering (CESE)
• Dr. Madeline Diep, Senior Scientist at Fraunhofer USA CESE
• Jeronimo Cox, Software Developer at Fraunhofer USA CESE
• Tammie Nelson, PhD Student at the UMD College of Information Studies
• Melissa Carraway, PhD Student at the UMD College of Information Studies
• Sarah Vahlkamp, PhD Student at the UMD College of Information Studies
• Dr. Aimee Kane, Associate Professor at the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University

Dr. Susannah B.F. Paletz is also the PI of a research project for the U.S. Department of Defense, funded by a $1.5M Minerva Grant, that aims to better understand how emotion impacts re-sharing and viral reach of posts on Facebook and YouTube.