Table 1.
Taxonomy of levels of automation and decision-making stages
| Decision-making stage | Level of automation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Intermediate | High | Full | |
| Information acquisition (A) | The computer gathers, displays and offers filtering | The computer gathers, displays and offers filtering as well as highlights relevant information for the human | The computer gathers, filters, and prioritizes information displayed to the human | The computer gathers, filters, and prioritizes data without displaying any information |
| Information analysis (B) | The computer analyzes the data and makes predictions, though the human is responsible for interpretation of the data | The computer overlays predictions with analysis and interprets the data. The human shadows the interpretation for contingencies | The computer analyzes, predicts, interprets, and integrates data into a result which is only displayed to the human if result fits programmed context (context dependent summaries) | The computer predicts, interprets, and integrates data into a result which is not displayed to the human |
| Decision selection (C) | Both human and computer perform ranking tasks, results from the human are considered prime | The computer performs ranking tasks. All results, including "why" decisions were made, are displayed to the human | The computer performs ranking tasks. The computer performs final ranking and displays a reduced set of ranked options without displaying "why" decisions were made | The computer performs ranking tasks. The computer performs final ranking, but does not display results |
| Decision implementation (D) | The computer executes the decision after human approval | The computer allows the human a context-dependent restricted time to veto before execution. Human shadows for contingencies | The computer executes automatically and only informs the human if required by context. It allows for an override ability after execution. The human shadows for contingencies | The computer executes automatically and does not allow any human interaction |
This table presents the taxonomy used in our survey. For brevity, we omit the lowest level (“Manual”) as it simply means no automation, so that no further description is needed