DARPA Enlists Drexel University to Develop Algorithms for Complex Decisions

Drexel University said it is participating in a $4 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program to develop algorithms that can imitate decision-making by experienced leaders to support crisis scenarios.

The “In the Moment” program is aimed at laying the groundwork for artificial intelligence-based decision-making in medical triage and other complex situations, Drexel said.

Parallax Advanced Research Corp., Knexus Research and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit – Dayton are working with university researchers to train and test the algorithms. Rosina Weber, AI expert and professor at Drexel’s computing and informatics college, is leading the university’s team.

DARPA plans to test the team’s products in triages for small military units in remote areas and for mass-casualty events. Matt Turek, ITM program manager at the agency, explained that the triage domain enables the team to tackle more challenging issues concerning trust and decision-making delegation.

In September, DARPA selected private and academic-sector teams to develop algorithms and techniques to decide whether an AI is trustworthy.