Cognitive Engineering

IngeCog - ISSN 2517-6978 - © ISTE Ltd

Journal issues

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Recent articles

Trust and automation bias: differences between novices and experts in a military context

This study examines whether the automation bias in situations of arbitration between human and AI-based assistance varies as a function of individuals’ psychosocial characteristics. The literature highlights the robustness of the automation bias in decision-making situations with a single aid, but a few recent studies mobilizing the dual decision aid paradigm identify more nuanced results, particularly as a function of participants’ characteristics. 2 groups of participants (37 military pilot students vs. 37 operational pilots) are engaged in an close air support mission simulation, where they must choose between information provided by a human aid and that provided by an AI-based automated aid. Trust in these aids is induced a priori by predefined levels of reliability (20%, 50%, 70% 90%). With equal reliability, when young participants and experts are confronted with a human aid and an AI-based aid, they have a preference for the human aid. However, this preference is greater for experts. The study questions the invariability of automation bias, highlighting the impact of the operator’s psychosocial characteristics on decision-making. It seems necessary to reconsider the automation bias in modern contexts through individual representations of technologies to optimize the design of decision support systems.

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An epistemological polyptich: an operative approach of epistemology

Epistemology does be a meta-discipline whose structuring as 4x4 matrix called epistemological polyptich is presented so as to help situate any scientific study according to a simple spectrum. Some consequences of this polyptich approach are stated.

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Cognitive war at the heart of China’s socialization strategy

As a theoretical concept, cognitive warfare is receiving increasing attention. Yet there is a gap between the nascent literature on the subject and a thorough understanding of China’s cognitive warfare strategy and tactics, as well as the impact it has on democracies. The research hypothesises that China’s cognitive warfare strategy, while drawing on disruptive technologies and scientific advances, particularly in the field of neuropsychology, is rooted in the country’s historical strategic culture, and in particular in the indirect strategy and (de)socialisation processes in China’s worldview.

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On the subject of “meaning”

Following an inventory of some characteristics of “meaning”, we consider the interaction between a human being with another as a crucial situation. The question of meaning, with the hypothesis that meaning is the opposite of information, is then discussed.

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Toward semantic XAI – the third wave of explainable artificial intelligence

To respond to the problems posed by the growing use of AI models in high stakes applications, explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) has experienced significant growth in recent years. Initially dedicated to the search for technical solutions making it possible to produce explanations automatically, it encountered several difficulties, in particular when these solutions were confronted with non-expert end users. The XAI then sought to draw inspiration from the social sciences to produce explanations that were easier to understand. Despite some encouraging results, this new approach has not brought as much as hoped. This article analyzes the evolution of the XAI through these two periods. He discusses possible reasons for the difficulties encountered, and then proposes a new approach to improve the automated production of explanations. This approach, called semantic explainability or S-XAI, focuses on user cognition. While previous methods are oriented towards algorithms or causality, S-XAI starts from the principle that understanding relies above all on the user’s ability to appropriate the meaning of what is explained.

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Foreward – note to the reader

La revue « Ingénierie Cognitique » s’est donné pour mission de publier les textes scientifiques, technologiques, épistémologiques et philosophiques concernant les technologies et méthodes cognitives, c’est-à-dire celles utilisées pour connaître la cognition humaine, mais également les conséquences de sa mise en oeuvre et les moyens de l’action que l’on peut avoir sur elle.

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Cognitive warfare: Foreword to the thematic issues

This special issue of this journal brings together a set of texts written by researchers from two French groups involved, first, in a public polemologic research programme, GECKO, and second, in a wider network devoted to conflictual cognitive action, CIVIL. The texts are published under the responsibility of their authors and are intended to provide a basis for thematic reflection stemming from some initial French-language work on the subject of ’cognitive warfare’.

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Cognitive Warfare, Culture and National Narrative

This article sets out the initial elements of a problematisation of cognitive warfare from a semiotic point of view. It will first propose a phenomenological framework for cognitive warfare, in terms of targets and attacks, and will sketch out a discussion about symbolic and cultural creations as conveying an authority, i.e. a legality that builds social cohesion. We’ll examine the national narrative as a symbolic creation necessary to communal living, but vulnerable to hostile attack, and a key component of a cognitive defence that still needs to be invented. Finally, we’ll look at the digital dimension as an intrinsic vulnerability in the "cultural defence" system of democracies.

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The civil legitimacy of cognitive warfare

This article addresses the issue of the civil culture of cognitive warfare, which is very rarely taken into account. In addition to military confrontation, three other types of confrontation can be considered here. Ideological and cultural confrontation, referring to the cognitive means used to destabilise or challenge a dominant ideological system. Geo-economic confrontation, all the informational manoeuvres linked to economic warfare. Societal confrontation, the intrusion of civil society players into economic problems. The players involved in these issues come from the civilian world, not the military.

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Typologies of warfare and conflicts: an introduction to Vietnamese doctrines and perceptions

The concept of “cognitive warfare” (in its “Western” meaning) appeared very recently in Vietnam. Working on the semantic field of this concept (like others recently borrowed from the “West”) allows us to understand its “journey” and the perception that the Vietnamese authorities may have of it. However, beyond this semantic study, it is necessary to apprehend and understand Vietnamese military traditions, notably the revolutionary war, to be able to assess how they can constitute a favourable environment for the "absorption" of this "imported" concept and allow its reuse in a “Vietnamized” form either in a military or civilian context to serve Vietnam’s influence.