Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making Technical Group

One of our HFES Human-AI-Robotics Teaming (HART) Technical Group Committee Members, Ericka Rovira, shared this podcast she did with the APA back in October called "The Future of Human-Robot Teams": https://open.spotify.com/episode/5cBamfUSD2XzZOiNnjWpG6.Enjoy!

Episode Description

From the surgical suite to the battlefield to the driver's seat of a car, robots and other autonomous systems are increasingly part of people's workplaces and their daily lives. Ericka Rovira, PhD, a professor of engineering psychology at the United States Military Academy West Point, talks about how robots are being used in the military, in medicine and in other complex, high-stakes arenas; how trust and collaboration work on human-robot teams; and how we humans can maintain our skills as we increasingly rely on robots and AI to assist us in our work and lives. 

Ericka Rovira, Ph. D. is a tenured Professor of Engineering Psychology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at United States Military Academy, West Point, NY. Her research investigates human autonomy teaming in high-risk complex environments. Dr. Rovira brings expertise in HRI, trust, and decision support tools, and has contributed extensively to the study of reliability and trust on technology in complex and uncertain environments. Her interest lies in understanding how to improve trust and reliance in robots including transparent human autonomy interaction and individual differences in cognition. Dr. Rovira has successfully attracted funding by various Department of Defense and government agencies (e.g., ONR, ARL, NRL, CERDEC, MITRE, & Minerva). Notably, Dr. Rovira has most recently been awarded a Multi University Research Initiative grant for the next 5 years to study human autonomous teaming ($7.5 Million, 7 collaborators). Dr. Rovira has held various leadership positions ranging from immediate past Program Director for the Engineering Psychology Program at West Point (academic department chair equivalent role) to Founder and Director of the Excel Scholars Program (an honors program which increases the number of historically underrepresented cadets that compete and win graduate fellowships), and Lab Director for 9 research labs. She has also served on the Program Committee for the HRI Conference. Last Dr. Rovira is a Fellow and Past President of the American Psychological Association's Division 21: Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology Division.