Researchers have created a method to help workers collaborate with artificial intelligence systems. Credit: Christine Daniloff, MIT

Researchers have created a method to help workers collaborate with artificial intelligence systems.

In a busy hospital, a radiologist is using an artificial intelligence system to help her diagnose medical conditions based on patients’ X-ray images. Using the AI system can help her make faster diagnoses, but how does she know when to trust the AI’s predictions?

She doesn’t. Instead, she may rely on her expertise, a confidence level provided by the system itself, or an explanation of how the algorithm made its prediction — which may look convincing but still be wrong — to make an estimation.

To help people better understand when to trust an AI “teammate,”