@ARTICLE{10.21494/ISTE.OP.2025.1344, 

TITLE={Cognitive optimization of decision-making in highly automated systems: to shoot or not to shoot during an air strike (simulation)}, 
  
AUTHOR={Jean-Christophe Hurault
, Grégory Froger
, Marianne Jarry
, Anne-Lise Marchand
, Colin Blättler, }, 
	
JOURNAL={Cognitive Engineering}, 
	
VOLUME={8}, 

NUMBER={Issue 1}, 
	
YEAR={2025}, 

URL={https://www.openscience.fr/Cognitive-optimization-of-decision-making-in-highly-automated-systems-to-shoot}, 
	
DOI={10.21494/ISTE.OP.2025.1344}, 
	
ISSN={2517-6978}, 
	
ABSTRACT={The growing integration of artificial intelligence into air-combat systems accelerates the collection and fusion of data, yet leaves humans with ultimate responsibility for purely cognitive, high-stakes decisions such as the “shoot / no-shoot” judgment. Because the operator must integrate heterogeneous information within seconds, this decision imposes a substantial cognitive load. The present study aims to improve performance on this task through a training program built from operational feedback and implemented on a lightweight, easily deployable platform. Seventy fighter-squadron aircrew members from the French Air and Space Force participated: an expert group (N = 39) and an intermediate group (N = 31). Intermediates completed a pre-test, a 45-minute training session and a post-test, whereas experts completed only the pre-test. Results on performance (accuracy and response time) show that the training material successfully engages expert knowledge; moreover, intermediates exhibited significant gains after a training session. Transfer of these gains in an operational setting remains to be demonstrated in future work. Nevertheless, the findings support the development of squadron-ready training modules that complement existing instructional tools. Even as AI usage intensifies, humans will remain in the decision loop. Thus, sustained efforts in education and training are essential to keep operators effective, while also understanding how to use AI in an appropriate way to support human decision-making, and to ensure that technological advances do not leave people “behind the aircraft.”}}