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Regulating Autonomous Agents Facing Conflicting Objectives: A Command and Control Example

Author

Listed:
  • Jim Q. Smith

    (University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom)

  • Lorraine Dodd

    (Cranfield University, Shrivenham, Swindon SN6 8LA, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Military commanders in the United Kingdom have a degree of devolved decision authority delegated from command and control (C2) regulators and are trained and expected to act rationally and accountably. Recent experimental results suggest that experienced commanders usually appear to act as if they are subjective expected utility maximizers. The only scenarios where this appears not to be so are when the immediate mission objectives conflict with broader campaign objectives. Then the apparent rationality of even experienced commanders often evaporates. In this paper we show that if the C2 regulator assumes her commander is expected utility maximizing and that he uses a suitable multiattribute utility function, then even when she is remote from the field of action and her information is sparse, this regulator can nevertheless predict when scenarios might lead her commanders into making irrational decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jim Q. Smith & Lorraine Dodd, 2012. "Regulating Autonomous Agents Facing Conflicting Objectives: A Command and Control Example," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 165-171, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ordeca:v:9:y:2012:i:2:p:165-171
    DOI: 10.1287/deca.1120.0240
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. L Dodd & J Moffat & J Smith, 2006. "Discontinuity in decision-making when objectives conflict: a military command decision case study," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(6), pages 643-654, June.
    2. J Moffat & S Witty, 2002. "Bayesian decision making and military command and control," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 53(7), pages 709-718, July.
    3. Smith, J. Q. & Harrison, P. J. & Zeeman, E. C., 1981. "The analysis of some discontinuous decision processes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 30-43, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lorraine Dodd, 2019. "Choice-making and choose-ables: making decision agents more human and choosy," EURO Journal on Decision Processes, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 7(1), pages 101-115, May.
    2. Jason R. W. Merrick & Fabrizio Ruggeri & Refik Soyer & L. Robin Keller, 2012. "From the Editors---Games and Decisions in Reliability and Risk," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 81-85, June.

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