Computational Awareness

This Open Access book presents computational awareness as an emerging interdisciplinary field concerned with artificial systems that can perceive, interpret, reason about and adapt to dynamic, uncertain and socially embedded environments. Drawing on the work of eight projects in the EIC Pathfinder Challenge “Awareness Inside”, it situates computational awareness in relation to philosophical and cognitive accounts of awareness and consciousness, while focusing primarily on awareness as an operational capability that can be specified, engineered and evaluated. The volume brings together perspectives from artificial intelligence, robotics, cognitive science, neuroscience, human-computer interaction, multi-agent systems and ethics. The book develops conceptual foundations and possible general theories of awareness, and then examines computational architectures, mechanisms and measures for realizing awareness in artificial systems. It covers symbolic and probabilistic reasoning, machine learning and cognitive architectures; multimodal and crossmodal integration of neurophysiological, gaze and behavioral signals; and collaborative and social awareness in artificial collectives and human-AI systems. These contributions examine how self-awareness, situational awareness, social awareness, mission awareness and value awareness can support more adaptive, safe and trustworthy intelligent systems. The volume also considers the ethical risks and opportunities associated with artificial awareness, including anthropomorphism, human agency, privacy, opacity, trust and accountability, together with governance strategies for responsible design. Robotics case studies on autonomous tool design and value-aware social robots illustrate how computational awareness can be embodied in practice. The book will be of interest to researchers, engineers, graduate students, policymakers and others working on trustworthy AI and autonomous systems.