Human-Automation Collaboration in Complex Multivariate Resource Allocation Decision Support Systems

In resource allocation problems for systems with moving planning horizons and significant uncertainty, typical of supervisory control environments, it is critical that some balance of human-automation collaboration be achieved. These systems typically require leveraging the computational power of automation, as well as the experience and judgment of human decision makers. Human-automation collaboration can occur through degrees of collaboration from automation-centric to human-centric, and such collaboration is inherently distinct from previously-discussed levels of automation. In the context of a command and control mission planning task, we show that across a number of metrics, there is no clear dominant human-automation collaboration scheme for resource allocation problems using three distinct instantiations of human-automation collaboration. Rather, the ultimate selection for the best resource allocation decision support system will depend on a cost-benefit approach that could include mitigation of workload, conformance to intended design characteristics, as well as the need to maximize overall mission performance.