From Tools Towards Cooperative Assistants

Abstract

Endowing assistant systems with more autonomy establishes the transition from a human-controlled tool towards a self-directed agent capable of own decisions and goals. In this concept paper we suggest to perform the design of such an assistant agent according to principles of cooperativity. We first review definitions of cooperation between animals, humans and machines and then discuss advantages of cooperation also for a human-machine interaction system. We concentrate on the important roles of adaptivity and responsibility within the interaction. We argue that main benefits of a cooperative design are alleviation of typical automation issues like controllability, complacency, trust, and greater flexibility of the combined human-machine system in tasks with high variability.