The Seven Deadly Myths of "Autonomous Systems"

"As designers conceive and implement what are commonly (but mistakely) called autonomous systems, they have succumbed to myths of autonomy that are not only damaging in their own right, but are also damaging by their continued propagation..." 
[Bradshaw, Hoffman, Johnson and Woods, IEEE Intelligent Systems, 2013]

  1. "Autonomy is unidimensional: self-sufficiency vs. self-directedness
  2. Clearly separated "levels of autonomy"
  3. Autonomy is a widget
  4. Autonomous sytems are fully autonomous
  5. Once achieved, full autonomy obviates need for human collaboration
  6. More autonomous machines = simple human substitues/force multipliers
  7. Full autonomy not only possible, but always desirable

We must aim to discard the myths and focus on developing coordination and adaptive mechanisms that yield new levels of mission effectiveness - enabled through genuine human-centeredness.