Episode #25: Robust Decision Heuristics for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Since September 2025 the long-term research group “Robust
Decision Heuristics for Natural and Artificial Intelligence” is
working at ZiF. The group seeks to bridge the study of
decision-making under uncertainty in natural systems and the
design of robust AI systems. Here, "natural systems" is primarily
a reference to humans but we will also consider insects because
they have simpler decision processes. The goal of the researchers
more specifically is to explore the design of algorithms for
robust and transparent AI systems by drawing on models of
decision processes under uncertainty in natural systems; and to
explore the design of AI systems driven by decision heuristics to
gain new understanding about decision-making in natural systems.


In this episode the conveners of the group, Mohan Sridharan
(Chair in Robot Systems, Edinburgh), Özgür Şimşek (Professor of
Computer Science, Bath) and psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer (Berlin)
talk about the many facets of their research, covering human
decision making as well as robot soccer. They also discuss the
necessity and the challenges of interdisciplinary
collaboration. 


 


Links
Mohan Sridharan 


Özgür Şimşek 


Gerd Gigerenzer
ZiF research group “Robust Decision Heuristics for Natural and
Artificial Intelligence”