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Building Cognition Among Human and AI Teams

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To effectively incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) as part of a high performing team will require a paradigm shift in how we view and employ technology in the workplace. AI is bridging a gap between equipment and human resources that will necessitate novel approaches. The prescient speculative fiction works of Stanisław Lem provide valuable insight which can be applied to the challenges facing today’s human and AI teams as they build the foundational elements of Team Cognition.

Lem was a prolific author with a talent for combining philosophy, satire and scientific themes. For this project, the scope has been limited to his work The Cyberiad, Fables for the Cybernetic Age1 which was originally published in 1965. The main characters in this work are highly evolved, yet decidedly anthropomorphic, intelligent machines. Trurl and Klapaucius are constructors who are continually developing technological solutions to situations encountered, or client requests received, as they travel the universe. As is often the case with cutting edge technology, vague requirements, experimental production methods, and variations in circumstance create unforeseen risks and dilemmas.

Team Cognition refers to cognitive structures or knowledge representations that help members of a team efficiently and effectively organize and execute tasks toward achieving the team’s goal or goals.2 For this project I have applied three of Lem’s fables as insightful case studies for three significant areas of team cognition: Shared Mental Models, Transactive Memory Systems, and Cognitive Diversity.

Even through translation from Polish to English, Lem’s titling word choices of Cybernetic and Fables remain astute. The term Cybernetics entered mainstream consciousness through Norbert Wiener’s 1948 work which defined it as “the science of control and communications in the animal and machine.”3 Though typically used in the context of broader systems thinking, akin to team cognition cybernetics also studies communication, feedback mechanisms, information processing methods, and adaptability as they relate to achieving outcomes.

A literary genre typified by a short format narrative with a salient message, fables are well suited for interpretation as case studies, albeit in the fictional sphere. These tales of Trurl and Klapaucius, as is the case with the corpus of Lem’s visionary work, maintain relevancy in modern times as we grapple to incorporate alternate forms of intelligence into our routines while struggling to maintain meaning and purpose.

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  1. The Three Ghosts of Science Fiction Past, Present, and Future Adelmar Ramirez

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