The Human-Technology Interaction Group (HTI) of the School of Innovation Sciences, in collaboration with the Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute (EAISI), is looking for
a PhD-student on human-AI collaboration in the workplace.

Are you interested in improving the way in which humans interact with AI-systems in organizations? Do you want to better understand how the strengths of smart AI-systems can best be combined with the strengths of human expertise?

Job Description

The Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS) is a leading school in the area of industrial engineering and management science as well as innovation sciences. IE&IS has several BSc and MSc programs housed in two separate schools: Innovation Sciences (IS) and Industrial Engineering (IE). The School of Innovation Sciences focuses on the realization and impact of technological innovations at the individual, organizational, and societal level. The Human-Technology Interaction (HTI) group is part of the school of IS. It concentrates expertise in social sciences - particularly psychology - and engineering, studying technology in the service of human wellbeing within the broader context of a socially and ecologically sustainable society.

The Eindhoven AI Systems Institute (EAISI) combines all TU/e Artificial Intelligence activities. Top researchers from various research groups work together to create new and exciting AI methodologies and applications with a direct impact on the real world. TU/e has been active in the field of AI for many years, which gives the new institute an excellent starting position to build upon.

This PhD project is part of the AI PLANNER OF THE FUTURE program. This ambitious research program is hosted by the TU/e-based Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences and is supported by the European Supply Chain Forum, Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, the Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute, and the Logistics Community Brabant. The program connects to the different communities, moonshots strategic agendas and the themes of each of these supporting partners. It combines 25 researchers, 10 PhD students and over 50 Bachelor and Master students, for the coming five years (2021-2026). This AI PLANNER OF THE FUTURE program considers the explicit intertwining of technical and human elements in the context of AI planning for supply chains and logistics, considering all relevant performance indicators (people, profit, and the planet).

The AI PLANNER OF THE FUTURE program
This ambitious research program is hosted by the TU/e-based Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences and is supported by the European Supply Chain Forum, Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, the Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute, and the Logistics Community Brabant. The program connects to the different communities, moonshots strategic agendas and the themes of each of these supporting partners. It combines 25 researchers, 10 PhD students and over 50 Bachelor and Master students, for the coming five years (2021-2026). This AI PLANNER OF THE FUTURE program considers the explicit intertwining of technical and human elements in the context of
AI planning for supply chains and logistics, considering all relevant performance indicators
(people, profit, and the planet).

The following 10 individual PhD projects are embedded in this program. We are looking for
PhD candidates from a broad range of disciplines ranging from operations research and management, supply chain management, statistics, ethics, cognivite psychology, artificial intelligence, etc.

Project 1: Learning about Customers: Demand Implications of Logistics-Related Decision-Making in B2B, Gelper, Mutlu, Langerak  https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-on-marketingoperations-interface-878156.html

Project 2: Context matters: optimizing shared decision making in real-world forecasting and inventory management, Le Blanc, van de Calseyde, Ulfert  https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-on-humanai-collaboration-at-work-878192.html

Project 3: AI-Based Replenishment and Order Fulfillment Strategies for Omnichannel Supply Chains, Atan , Schrotenboer, Van Woensel  https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-on-aibased-replenishment-order-fulfillment-strategies-for-supply-chains-878193.html

Project 4: Robust data-driven sustainable food supply chain, Marandi, Rohmer,
Van Woensel  https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-in-%E2%80%98datadriven-approaches-towards-robust-and-sustainable-cold-chains%E2%80%99-878195.html

Project 5: Digital Twins: An ingenious AI companion or an evil twin?, Raassens, Schepers, Van Woensel https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-in-ai-and-digital-twinning-878197.html

Project 6: AI for sustainable last-mile delivery by micromobility: a socio-technical perspective, Behrendt, Alkemade  https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/ai-for-sustainable-lastmile-delivery-by-micromobility-878198.html

Project 7 (Extra: 0.5 EAISI startup package + 0.5 ESCF): Data-driven Optimization using Digital Twins for Sustainable Last-Mile Delivery, Zhang, Bliek, Van Woensel
https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-on-datadriven-optimization-for-sustainable-lastmile-delivery-878199.html

Project 8: Online Supply Chain Planning, Dijkman, Van Jaarsveld
https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-in-information-systems-business-intelligence-878200.html

Project 9: From feared competitor to trusted companion: understanding and enhancing trust in AI over time, Snijder, Rooks, Willemsen  PhD on human-AI collaboration in the workplace: Trust in AI over time

Project 10: Widening the frame: Rational choice beyond a given utility function, Müller 
https://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-on-%E2%80%9Cimproving-automated-rational-choice-through-metacognition%E2%80%9D-878202.html

• Recently completed (or be close to the completion of) a Master's degree in Cognitive Psychology, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field that shows an interest in the combination of decision-making, human cognitive psychology, and intelligent systems.
• Demonstrable experience in conducting empirical and/or experimental research, including knowledge of and demonstrable experience with applying (state of the art) statistical techniques.
• Excellent mastering of the English language and good communication skills. Note that there is no Dutch language requirement.

The project

Artificially Intelligent systems are becoming both much more pervasive, and better. There is a lot of evidence though that the interaction between the human planner and AI systems is far from hassle free: AI-generated decisions are overridden or adapted when they should have been left alone, and AI-systems are trusted when they should not have been.

The literature has suggested several factors that influence the trust that a planner has in AI systems, some related to the planner (experience and expertise, for instance), some related to the system (transparency, reliability, fairness, …) and some related to the context in which the interaction takes place (high-risk vs low-risk decisions, complex vs more standard, …). An overlooked issue is that in many organizations planners interact with the AI system repeatedly. This causes that, as planners interact more often, how they feel about and behave towards the system becomes more and more dependent on their experience with the system (and less dependent on these more often studied initial factors). This project focuses on trust in AI-systems over time and on how past interactions of the planner with the AI-system shape future interactions.

We expect you to:

• further develop the project proposal based on academic literature, and in collaboration with ESCF industry partners
• design empirical (field) studies
• design lab/online experiments
• statistically analyze data obtained from field studies and experiments and report on results
• communicate practical implications of your research to specific stakeholders/the general public
• present the findings of your research at (inter)national scientific conferences
• publish papers in internationally renowned academic journals

• A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university.
• A full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months.
• To develop your teaching skills, you will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• To support you during your PhD and to prepare you for the rest of your career, you will make a Training and Supervision plan and you will have free access to a personal development program for PhD students (PROOF program).
• A gross monthly salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Additionally, an annual holiday allowance of 8% of the yearly salary, plus a year-end allowance of 8.3% of the annual salary.
• Should you come from abroad and comply with certain conditions, you can make use of the so-called '30% facility', which permits you not to pay tax on 30% of your salary.
• A broad package of fringe benefits, including an excellent technical infrastructure, moving expenses, and savings schemes.
• Family-friendly initiatives are in place, such as an international spouse program, and excellent on-campus children day care and sports facilities.