Cognitive Assistants for Analysts

Traditional intelligence analysis suffers from several systemic problems including: information overload; intelligence sharing difficulties; lack of time, methods, and resources for analytic collaboration with area experts; limited capabilities in regard to the consideration of multiple hypotheses; sociocultural and socio-psychological bias informing the analytic process; lack of time and resources for critical analysis and after-action review; “group-think” (a lack of diverse opinions informing the process) and “paralysis by analysis”; loss of analytic expertise due to downsizing and attrition; lack of time and resources needed to train new analysts; and limited availability and use of tools to improve the analytic process (Lowenthal, 1999; National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 2004; Wheaton, 2001).