Human–Autonomy Teaming: A Review and Analysis of the Empirical Literature

We define human-autonomy teaming and offer a synthesis of the existing empirical research on the topic. Specifically, we identify the research environments, dependent variables, themes representing the key findings, and critical future research directions.

Whereas a burgeoning literature on high-performance teamwork identifies the factors critical to success, much less is known about how human-autonomy teams (HATs) achieve success. Human-autonomy teamwork involves humans working interdependently toward a common goal along with autonomous agents. Autonomous agents involve a degree of self-government and self-directed behavior (agency), and autonomous agents take on a unique role or set of tasks and work interdependently with human team members to achieve a shared objective. METHOD: We searched the literature on human-autonomy teaming. To meet our criteria for inclusion, the paper needed to involve empirical research and meet our definition of human-autonomy teaming. We found 76 articles that met our criteria for inclusion.