On human–machine relations

This paper presents an approach to human–machine interactions based on the concept of teamwork and the psychological theory of object relations. We envision the human and the machine in a close relationship that has many aspects of human-to-human relations. Not only does the machine have to relate to and accommodate human wants and needs, but also, to some extent, the human is called to reciprocate. We propose a framework consisting of eleven attributes that describe generic processes in teamwork: commitment, goal definition, common ground, belief, planning, transparency, sensitivity, caring, responsibility, trust, and reflection. Using an automotive climate control system as an example, we show how some of these attributes can be used to evaluate user interactions and point to new design opportunities. Based on results from a pilot study of driver interaction with the climate control system, we operationalized sensitivity and caring for other team members, encapsulated them in a computational architecture, and implemented a control interface. The evaluation of the control interface during a driving experiment suggests that it is markedly better than a regular interface and is almost as good as a human expert who interacts with the climate control system in response to the driver’s needs and wants.